Commentary

“… and may God protect our troops.”

And so, President Biden regularly concludes another speech.  Just words.

I’m not questioning his appreciation of the troops, but as a veteran who supports a strong military, I have never been more disheartened by what has been taking place in the Pentagon since Biden came into office. 

It’s one thing for the president to bless our troops with words, but when his actions are antithetical to them, we can begin to understand the sad state of our military today.

Last week we learned that the U.S. Army has cut its size, and its overall readiness in 2023 due to recruitment difficulties.  The force will be cut by as many as 10,000 troops.

Is it any wonder?  This is not the same Army that slogged through the Ardennes in the Battle of the Bulge, or stormed the beaches of Normandy, or the Army of  more recent wars in which they gave their all even when “winning” was not a requirement. And let’s not forget those special rules of war shackles placed on them when they were sent into enemy territory.

Earlier this year I wrote about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to target far-right extremism in the ranks in the aftermath of the January 6, 2022 riot at the Capitol.  That was followed by discussion of diversity, critical race theory and policies that emerged from “wokeness.”

The Pentagon’s insistence on social justice over meritocracy, lowering the standards have had a morale effect on those in service and are seen as a weakness by potential recruits.

“To compete for talent, the Army must provide a workplace environment free of harmful behaviors, to include sexual assault, sexual harassment, racism, and extremism,” Gen. Joseph Martin, the Army’s vice chief of staff, told the House Armed Services Committee.  Really, General?

I am embarrassed that the military has come to this.  General George Patton would be devastated, livid.

Former President Trump was determined to restore the pride and readiness of our military services, surrounded by experienced men like Generals John Kelly, James Mattis and H. R. McMaster.  But they didn’t see things eye-to-eye.  He brought on Gen. Mark Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but there were also disagreements between the two men. Still more with Mark Esper.

While I understand that the military strives to separate itself from domestic issues, I viewed their relationship with Trump as an extension of the war within the deep state that Trump faced with the FBI, and the intelligence agencies.

When the rubber hit the road, however, it was General Milley and his cohorts, who screwed up the withdrawal from Afghanistan after our nation invested 20 years in an attempt to stabilize that country.

They advised President Biden not to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan ahead of the evacuation, but things got chaotic at the Kabul airport, resulting in the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and 10 Afghan civilians.

General Milley disagreed with the president’s defense of the pullout, that it was a “logistical success,” acknowledging that they had recommended leaving 2,500 American troops on the ground, and in the end, it was a “strategic failure.”

The failure to retain Bagram Air Base through the evacuation of people and the removal of the billions of dollars in military equipment and ammunition, in my view is somewhat of a dereliction of duty.  And that falls on the shoulders of the generals, who should have been more assertive with the feckless President Biden.

As I drafted this post, a saw a piece in Townhall, “The Next Republican President Must Fix the Military First,” by Kurt Schlichter, who writes, “The normal, patriotic Americans who traditionally answer the call to the colors are refusing to sign onto an organization that hates them.”

What was once a culture of winning, Schlichter notes, “now has a culture of not only losing, but turning on its own, destroying itself through social justice nonsense and rejecting the warrior ethos.”

Schlichter believes “our broken military culture can be fixed, and must be fixed first, saying that it will be the key test of the next Republican president.

‘It would be helpful, but not mandatory, If the next president had military experience,” he says.  “At a minimum,” he believes he must not have any “lingering awe of generals and admirals,” noting how Trump was initially impressed by flag officers.” 

I recall how he regularly boasted of the careers of Generals Kelly and Mattis as “tough guys.”  His nickname for Mattis was “Mad Dog.”

“The next president’s objective must be to reorient the United States military into a war-fighting organization,” Schlichter states. 

I would add that he must take a stand against the use of military personnel as a “Petrie dish” for social experimentation.

Just 106 days to the midterm elections.  May God bless the United States of America.