Dexter Filkins in The New Yorker presents an alarming report on the state of our military and its inability to recruit sufficient young people to keep our military strong and ready. Kids don’t want to serve their country any more, and why not after two wasteful wars that led to nothing except death, horrible mutilation, and deep psychological distress for so many patriotic young people who were thrown into the wars.
Our great victories against Nazi Germany and warmongering Imperial Japan gave our military great esteem as conquering heroes, men like my Dad and Uncle Don Scheck. Then in wasteful wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, we squandered the goodness of our cause with horrible civilian and military leadership in conducting these wars badly and without any real strategy for victory, which led to zero gain for our national security, let alone victory, and which killed tens of thousands of good young people and destroyed so many who survived. Korea was a tie at best, and we lost the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. LOST. Men and women served honorably, of course, and there were many heroes, but our leaders were war criminals and villains who tainted the great honor our military earned in World War II.
And here we are. We face serious threats from Russia and China, both of whom have nefarious imperial ambitions against our allies in Europe and Taiwan. And our military, once designed to be able to fight and win one great war while also waging a second to at least a standstill, at least until we can rally the American like we did in WW II to unite the country to do what it takes to win the second, is now weakened and undermanned.
Our enemies know this. We face a world of shit.