As Wendell Berry rightly pointed out years ago, we have war colleges/military academies and not one peace academy. And at "prestigious" Columbia, we have Clinton & Nuland imparting their state department experiences ... I wonder why US diplomacy is braindead....
What's more, we need to reinstate the draft and rid ourselves of the "all volunteer" army We need an Army comprised of citizens whose first loyalty is to the constitution. The "all volunteer" army is not made up of volunteers, it is made up of professionals who have made the military their careers. They are not looking forward to returning to civilian life, they are looking forward to promotions. Their first loyalty is to their superiors and their chain of command, right or wrong, it makes no difference. Their is no room for conscience. One must obey orders, else their careers are ended.
The wars we have won were all won with citizen-soldiers. The "all volunteer" army has won several battles but has not won a single war.
I find the new U.S. Army ads very troubling. A female soldier fires some kind of large gun (I'm totally clueless as to what kind it is), making a big explosion and BOOM. A man (spotter?) looks through a scope and says, "Nice shot." It's a training exercise, apparently, but it just conveys the idea that there's so much pleasure in blowing something up. Makes me wonder if the same praise would be given if it was a live situation. Probably just me, but it freaks me out.
"After nearly a decade of war, we don't need more "warrior ethos." What we need are disciplined citizen-airmen and citizen-soldiers who know their craft, but who also know better than to revel in a warrior identity. We knew this in 1942; how did we come to forget it?"
If I'm not mistaken there were long arguments during the constitutional convention on the dangers of a standing army. The second amendment was the result of those arguments which is precisely what you are advocating for in this essay. And now the"All volunteer army " is composed of more than 60% non citizens promised citizenship based on service. Something I find extremely troubling.
".....how did we come to forget it?"
Eisenhower warned us. We ignored him and went along with the consumer propaganda of the 60s till now which was hiding the MIC which was a large part of the"industrial complex". The MIC offered the best paying jobs by and large so citizens were unknowingly sucked into supporting it. Hindsight is 20-20.
And 40 years after Eisenhower warned us 9/11 and the "Patriot Act" gave us an endless "War on Terror" to spread freedom and democracy (translation "capitalism and oppression") throughout the world. The Patriot Act was the final nail in the coffin of the now buried Constitution and Declaration Of Independence.
I think Mayor General Smedley Butler has something to say about this issue in WAR IS A RACKET (1935). The warrior „ethos“ in the U.S. military dates back to a much earlier period than you think.
The "all volunteer" army is a misnomer. When you are employed by someone, you are not a volunteer, you are a paid employee. When you make a career using your special skills, you become a professional. Our military today consists solely of professional soldiers who have chosen military service for a career.
Therefore, it is wrong to call our military an "all volunteer" army. Instead, it should correctly be called a professional army.
As an aside, when professional soldiers work for a foreign government, they are called mercenaries. Since most of our military deployments overseas are in support of foreign governments, shouldn't they be called mercenary forces?
As wrknight pointed out here earlier, the last war America "won" that included conscripted "citizen-soldiers" was World War II, 79 years ago. That same military composed in part of “citizen-soldiers” lost Korea and Vietnam.
And that post-Vietnam "all-volunteer" military has lost every war since Vietnam, unless one calls Panama, Grenada, and Kuwait "wars.”
The primary reason America has lost every war it has engaged in since WW II is because it was on the wrong side in each of them. And deserved to lose.
And it is on the wrong side in its up-to-this-point merely “proxy” wars in Ukraine and Palestine, and will lose those wars, as well. Especially if [when] American combat troops get deployed into those theatres. Just like it will lose the war with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea; and for the exact same reason again.
One wonders if and when the American Peoples are ever going to get tired of losing all these wars. As long as they don't have to pay for them thru the magic of Deficit Spending ~ and don’t have to worry about their Kids being drafted ~ probably never,
'Claims of Mass Rape by Hamas Unravel Upon Investigation'
On top of serving as war propaganda, stories by Zaka volunteers appear invented. Western media is full of Zaka atrocity claims, nearly all of which are fabrications, dubious, or unsubstantiated.
[9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2
[9] Behold, I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Revelation 3
As Wendell Berry rightly pointed out years ago, we have war colleges/military academies and not one peace academy. And at "prestigious" Columbia, we have Clinton & Nuland imparting their state department experiences ... I wonder why US diplomacy is braindead....
What's more, we need to reinstate the draft and rid ourselves of the "all volunteer" army We need an Army comprised of citizens whose first loyalty is to the constitution. The "all volunteer" army is not made up of volunteers, it is made up of professionals who have made the military their careers. They are not looking forward to returning to civilian life, they are looking forward to promotions. Their first loyalty is to their superiors and their chain of command, right or wrong, it makes no difference. Their is no room for conscience. One must obey orders, else their careers are ended.
The wars we have won were all won with citizen-soldiers. The "all volunteer" army has won several battles but has not won a single war.
A volunteer military is a mercenary military.
Soldiers are no longer soldiers, they are being transformed into Genocide ready mindless drones.
Here something I wrote.
https://mywisdom.substack.com/p/truth-be-told
I find the new U.S. Army ads very troubling. A female soldier fires some kind of large gun (I'm totally clueless as to what kind it is), making a big explosion and BOOM. A man (spotter?) looks through a scope and says, "Nice shot." It's a training exercise, apparently, but it just conveys the idea that there's so much pleasure in blowing something up. Makes me wonder if the same praise would be given if it was a live situation. Probably just me, but it freaks me out.
"After nearly a decade of war, we don't need more "warrior ethos." What we need are disciplined citizen-airmen and citizen-soldiers who know their craft, but who also know better than to revel in a warrior identity. We knew this in 1942; how did we come to forget it?"
If I'm not mistaken there were long arguments during the constitutional convention on the dangers of a standing army. The second amendment was the result of those arguments which is precisely what you are advocating for in this essay. And now the"All volunteer army " is composed of more than 60% non citizens promised citizenship based on service. Something I find extremely troubling.
".....how did we come to forget it?"
Eisenhower warned us. We ignored him and went along with the consumer propaganda of the 60s till now which was hiding the MIC which was a large part of the"industrial complex". The MIC offered the best paying jobs by and large so citizens were unknowingly sucked into supporting it. Hindsight is 20-20.
And 40 years after Eisenhower warned us 9/11 and the "Patriot Act" gave us an endless "War on Terror" to spread freedom and democracy (translation "capitalism and oppression") throughout the world. The Patriot Act was the final nail in the coffin of the now buried Constitution and Declaration Of Independence.
I think Mayor General Smedley Butler has something to say about this issue in WAR IS A RACKET (1935). The warrior „ethos“ in the U.S. military dates back to a much earlier period than you think.
The "all volunteer" army is a misnomer. When you are employed by someone, you are not a volunteer, you are a paid employee. When you make a career using your special skills, you become a professional. Our military today consists solely of professional soldiers who have chosen military service for a career.
Therefore, it is wrong to call our military an "all volunteer" army. Instead, it should correctly be called a professional army.
As an aside, when professional soldiers work for a foreign government, they are called mercenaries. Since most of our military deployments overseas are in support of foreign governments, shouldn't they be called mercenary forces?
As wrknight pointed out here earlier, the last war America "won" that included conscripted "citizen-soldiers" was World War II, 79 years ago. That same military composed in part of “citizen-soldiers” lost Korea and Vietnam.
And that post-Vietnam "all-volunteer" military has lost every war since Vietnam, unless one calls Panama, Grenada, and Kuwait "wars.”
The primary reason America has lost every war it has engaged in since WW II is because it was on the wrong side in each of them. And deserved to lose.
And it is on the wrong side in its up-to-this-point merely “proxy” wars in Ukraine and Palestine, and will lose those wars, as well. Especially if [when] American combat troops get deployed into those theatres. Just like it will lose the war with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea; and for the exact same reason again.
One wonders if and when the American Peoples are ever going to get tired of losing all these wars. As long as they don't have to pay for them thru the magic of Deficit Spending ~ and don’t have to worry about their Kids being drafted ~ probably never,
'Claims of Mass Rape by Hamas Unravel Upon Investigation'
On top of serving as war propaganda, stories by Zaka volunteers appear invented. Western media is full of Zaka atrocity claims, nearly all of which are fabrications, dubious, or unsubstantiated.
https://portside.org/2024-03-16/claims-mass-rape-hamas-unravel-upon-investigation
[9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2
[9] Behold, I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Revelation 3