As a number of other posters have mentioned, Skip Bacevich is a retired Army Colonel whose views on our recent wars and on the military in general are at odds with most of his fellows officers.
Skip is, I believe, still bitter about his relief from command of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment following the tragic accident in Kuwait. He turned his back on the military and found another career as the Left’s favorite military nay sayer. The death of his son in combat contributed, but is not the cause of his current political and philosophical stance. His arguments have found a predictable audience and we will need to remind the American people and their fickle political leaders that we have been down this road before with disastrous results.
We are powerless right now with regard to the Crimea both in our weak capability to respond and because of the unwillingness of our President to do anything. Contrast that with the Cold War where we had a President who stood strong, an Army ready to act, and a people solidly behind both. We won through resolve without some great bloodbath that would have killed both Bachevich and me together with many of our fellow soldiers.
My first Company Commander told me that, “ Command is just a license to go to jail.” I realized pretty quick that luck played a part in having a successful command. Didn’t Napoleon say something about preferring lucky Commanders over talented ones? Ecclesiastes (Solomon) says it best. He said something like, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity and a chasing after the wind. All your work can mean nothing for you while another takes your place and receives your rewards.” Solomon knew.