Before I begin this post, this shall be my last one. For reasons satisfactory to me I have decided that it is time to move on. John Noonan gave me my start at blogging and I have found it to be a great outlet; both intellectually and emotionally. I will continue to blog, at my own blog http://vmitownie76.com, occasionally at Sic Semper Tyrannis, and other blogs, where occasionally I make an appearance. I shall continue to read OP-FOR and may from time to time make a comment or two. I would urge some of the regular commentators to contact JPP [...]
Military Industrial Complex Run Amock
As a nation we do not venerate our elders. Oh we go through the motions, any number of liberals and conservatives pay daily homage to the founders, but in reality they could care less as long as their political careers flourish. But nowhere is it more evident of our failure to heed the advice of our elders is the failure of the United States as a nation we pay attention to Dwight Eisenhower’s warnings about the military-industrial complex. If we want to see the fulfillment of his fears we have to look no further than the F35 fighter. This link [...]
Budget Realities
I rarely agree with Ralph Peters, but over at the New York Post he lays out an effective argument that we have the seen the enemy and the enemy is us.
Heroes With Four Legs
For several years, Rebecca Frankel has been writing a weekly column about War Dogs and their contributions to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Here is a link to her latest installment. I have for a number of years believed that our military ought to have a way to officially recognize the heroism of these dogs. I also am of the belief that we owe them a great deal and that our nation can afford to care for them when they are no longer able to serve as Military Working Dogs. As soldiers their only fault is they are loyal to a [...]
Do We Need Service Secretaries?
In today’s Washington-Post former Secretary of the Air Force and later Defense Harold Brown proffers a provocative argument that there is no longer a need for the service secretaries e.g Secretary’s of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. That they are redundant and that the service Chiefs would remain under Civilian Control as they would continue to report to the Secretary of Defense. Several questions immediately come to mind: Who will be the independent political voice (vice military) who will challenge the programming and budgeting decisions of Department of Defense? Would this result in the diminishing of service parochialism? Would [...]
The Mood of the American Public
Scott Rasmussen a well known conservative pollster has written an interesting article over at Reason.com entitled, “Ready to Cut Military Spending.” Rasmussen argues that the American public is tiring of our over seas adventures, questions our need to remain in NATO, and questions, with the exception of a few, our alliances. The implications of this are far reaching; will we retain forces in overseas bases; will there be a radical reduction in the size of the US military, in particular this argues against a large standing Army; the US public is not buying that People’s Republic of China and Russia [...]
The End of “Jointness”?
The author thinks so, and has an interesting take on why. (Hint– it’s all about the money.) What say thee?
Is the United States a Militaristic Imperialists Nation?
One of my faults is I am a thinker; that I often question the status quo, the why things are. One of my favorite web sites to visit is Tom Dispatch. Many in the military would not read Tom Dispatch as it routinely questions the very underpinnings of how things are done in the United States in particular in the National Security arena. Several weeks ago, Tom Dispatch published an extended article on the shadow war in Africa. In part it questioned why the United States military has divided the world into six fiefdoms or Combatant Commands. This week there [...]
Another Conservative Perspective
While we generally think of “conservatives” as being strong supporters of the American military; there is an older tradition in which conservatives argued for less foreign entanglements and a small military. Mr. Robert Robb over at the Arizona Republic makes a strong argument for a return to an older and more traditional National Defense Strategy. The heart of his arguement is that a large military leads us to adventurism and does not in the long run make us safer.
