Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

The Foust-Broadwell feud: He responds

By Joshua Foust Best Defense guest respondent I appreciate MAJ Erwin‘s service to our country. But I would also appreciate his portraying my comments accurately. I never claimed to "review" Paula’s book (and in fact say very specifically that I did not). While he can proclaim me shameless, I find a certain shamelessness in ignoring ...

By Joshua Foust

By Joshua Foust

Best Defense guest respondent

I appreciate MAJ Erwin‘s service to our country. But I would also appreciate his portraying my comments accurately. I never claimed to "review" Paula’s book (and in fact say very specifically that I did not). While he can proclaim me shameless, I find a certain shamelessness in ignoring 1500 words about Paula Broadwell’s many problems with telling the truth, presenting that truth accurately and consistently over time, or portraying her critics fairly.

Rather than focusing on a throwaway line at the end of a long analysis of a small anecdote in Paula’s book, MAJ Erwin chose instead to take exception at my donating money to the Wounded Warriors Project with the wrong rhetoric attached to it. That’s certainly his right, and he has every right to assume my motives to feel outrage. 

But the decision to focus on such a small point — literally my decision to donate to an organization supporting wounded veterans so I wouldn’t deny them a small royalty check by not buying Paula’s book — while ignoring the much bigger points about Paula’s issues with telling the truth is worrisome. Either Paula told a false version of what happened at Tarok Kolache on this blog last year, or she is telling a false version of what happened in her book. The two do not match, and it would serve EVERYONE interested in character and leadership, like Major Erwin, to contemplate that as well.

The real issue here isn’t whether I donated to the Wounded Warrior Project with the right motives, but whether Paula Broadwell is telling an incomplete version of the truth to tell the story she wanted for her hagiography of General Petraeus. No matter what people like Major Erwin try to deflect attention from that point, it doesn’t change the real issue here.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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