Open To Interpretation

(Open To Interpretation)

In any chain of command, commanders delegate authority to their subordinates. To a point, that subordinate is expected to show initiative but the point is also reached when the primacy of orders take precedence. An example of this, during the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederates took Day One of the three-day engagement, forcing Federal forces south through the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and to the heights to the south of the town, Culp's Hill, Cemetary Ridge and the Round Tops.

On that first day, the Rebels had a chance to seize Culp's Hill while it was still relatively un-occupied. As that position was the northeast "pivot" of what would become the famous "fish-hook" over the hills south of Gettysburg that would materialize over the next over the next two days. However, any orders that might have been issued to take Culp's Hill came with the qualifier "if practicable." That can be a dangerous directive. Because such latitude had been granted, the Confederate officer in question erred on the side of caution and allowed the Union to take that Hill.

How many days has it been since President Biden announced he had decided what to do with Iran ? The proxy attack that resulted in the deaths of three American service people and yet the President has yet to formulate a strategy or how to inflect damage on the Islamic Republic. Like the indecision affecting the Confederate command at Gettysburg as whether to assault Culp's Hill or, does the President think his responsibility to retaliate against is itself "open to interpretation ?"

The longer the President delays and if the response itself is less than spectacular, if it will do nothing to deter Iran, then Biden will be displaying that same indecisiveness that left a prominence in Union hands in July, 1863. On Day Two, the Confederates attempted a flank attack against the Round Tops. that failed and on Day Three, Picket's charge was launched and that failed even more spectacular. If the Rebel's had made more of an effort to take Culp's Hill on Day One, things might have been different. The President should remember that.