Lorelei Kelly, a diarist at the Huffington Post is worried that we’re too dependent on the US military and that it will have dire consequences at some point in the future. She admits in the opening paragraphs that the main reason Egypt’s military has presided over a somewhat peaceful transition is because the officers were trained in the United States in their responsibilities in a republic, but she doesn’t have the same faith in the trainers;
Military professionals normally observe a bright line between expert advice and political advocacy. Yet these boundaries are shifting. Here are some indicators of imbalance:
1. An overstretched military gradually resents a society that does not sacrifice. This separation stirs alienation and possibly even arrogance, increasing our civil / military divide
Our military is accustomed to operating in conditions influenced by intellectually lazy and arrogant politicians. They’re rather good at just doing their job and ignoring the flatulence that emanates from Washington and Berkely.
2. The military adopts counterinsurgency i.e. nation building. Our Army has become good at monitoring/controlling populations and engaging in economic development projects. Congress doesn’t stop or modify this trend.
It’s the military’s job since the end of World War II to adjust from war fighters to police mostly because there’s no one else in the entire world who will significantly step up to the task. Witness: the giant cluster fuck in Haiti.
3. Katrina — we used active duty forces to help bring relief to a disaster area. We become too comfortable with military troops on duty in our domestic terrrain. i.e. calls to the Mexican border.
Again, because the military does what it says it will do, while bureaucrats engage themselves in jobs programs and never seem to accomplish anything besides entrenching themselves in petty fiefdoms.
4. Rising “Veteranism” where the military is given incrementally more credibility as a legitimate political voice. Both the Left and the Right are guilty of using veteran branding.
Ask yourself “Why?”. Why do people inflate their resume`s with military experience they never had? Maybe it’s because veterans have a proven track record of unequaled performance.
5. Loss of confidence in Government — low public opinion in our elected officials and a poisoned system.
That speaks for itself.
So Ms. Kelly’s solution is to cut off funds for the military, instead of demanding that government promise fewer things it can’t accomplish, and focus more on things it can do. But, they send more civilians to muck up what the military does well (Eikenberry and his jolly band of misfits in Afghanistan, for example).
Kelly ends her missive with;
p.s. Thank you Representative Betty McCollum for pointing out the wastefulness of the NASCAR/military sponsorship. Just one more example of what needs to stop.
Yes, you addle-brained liberal. We need to stop attracting qualified and motivated youngsters to the only branch of the government that performs as it’s expected to perform.
