Thursday, April 10, 2008

Wine Critic Criticizes General Petraeus For Wearing Class A Uniform To Testify Before Congress

Apparently this was a sartorial no-no:

Gen. David H. Petraeus may be as impressive a military professional as the United States has developed in recent years, but he could use some strategic advice on how to manage his sartorial PR. Witness his congressional testimony on the state of the war in Iraq. There he sits in elaborate Army regalia, four stars glistening on each shoulder, nine rows of colorful ribbons on his left breast, and various other medallions, brooches and patches scattered across the rest of the available real estate on his uniform. He even wears his name tag, a lone and incongruous hunk of cheap plastic in a region of pristine gilt, just in case the politicians aren't sure who he is.

That's a lot of martial bling, especially for an officer who hadn't seen combat until five years ago. Unfortunately, brazen preening and "ribbon creep" among the Army's modern-day upper crust have trumped the time-honored military virtues of humility, duty and personal reserve.

...

According to an annotated photograph produced by the Times of London last year, the majority of ribbons on Petraeus' impressive "rack" were earned for various flavors of distinguished service. As brave as he may be and as meritorious in general, is all that ostentation the best way to present the situation in Iraq to an increasingly war-skeptical public?


Strangely although Mr. DeBord, the former editor of Wine Spectator magazine, and author of the New York Book of Wine, feels it necessary to offer fashion advice to General Petraeus he is silent on the Chinese Army's wearing of white socks with camouflage.



Seriously which is the worse offense?

h/t Ace

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