Posted on 04/11/2014 2:16:09 PM PDT by centurion316
For better or worse, ours is today a warlike nation that depends on volunteers to fill the ranks of its armed forces. Young men and women have a variety of motives for signing up. No doubt some do so for high-minded, even idealistic reasons. For many, however, more pragmatic considerations figure: a job with salary and benefits, a chance to escape from a humdrum or dispiriting existence. In all likelihood, few volunteers know what they are getting into, particularly in wartime. Fully disclosing what service in a distant war zone might entail is not a high priority for recruiters trying to fill their monthly quota of warm and willing bodies.
Even so, the new Washington Post poll of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans shows that, looking back, most of today’s veterans find no cause to regret their decision to join. Nearly nine out of 10 would do so again. Indeed, a majority of those who participated in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars profess to “miss” something they experienced there.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
He outdoes himself this time, belittling and mocking his fellow soldiers for the unpardonable sin of doing their duty. He demands that soldiers answer for the failings of the liberal ruling class that he now imagines himself to be a part of. Perhaps if he had done his duty as the Commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, his career might have played out differently and he could have avoided this self loathing charade that is his current life.
LOL!
Worst mistake I ever made was getting out at 16 years, during Clinton’s RIF.
I think this toad wrote a book about Americans loving ‘militarism’ or some such BS.
He's the left wing loonies favorite Colonel, after John Kerry, of course. Oh, wait, Kerry was only a Lieutenant. No matter, the Left doesn't know the difference.
This is an article in The Washington Post. Bacevich does not make his living writing for The Washington Post. This is an article that Bacevich voluntarily wrote and asked to be published in The Washington Post. Bacevich is a Professor. This article is not a scholarly work in an academic journal. His university did not require him to write it.
My initial reaction was to write that he should shut his big yap. This article does no one any good. After additional thought, I believe Bacevich is subconsciously asking for help. He had a great future ahead of him, and bad luck put an end to it. I can’t help but wonder what the Army would be like with a four star General Bacevich. We’ll never know. He needs to get over that. He’s not the only one to have a shot of bad luck.
He lost a Son who was also an Officer in the Army. There’s no way I can relate to that kind of pain. There’s no way I can understand what he went through. I suspect that he’s angry. There’s a lot of emotion involved with his life. Maybe he needs to talk to somebody.
One thing I do know, and that’s that he shouldn’t be yanking Soldiers chains. I don’t care how much you’ve suffered, there’s plenty of young Soldiers who also suffered and they don’t need somebody screwing with them in a newspaper. Bacevich needs to shut up about this.
Skip went over to the dark side before his son was KIA. If that had been the turning point, perhaps I would have understood. But he is not the first soldier to have lost a son to combat. Each have dealt with that tragedy in their own personal way and I would never criticize however they chose to deal with it.
His problem is that he has embraced his new role in life with the same intensity that was his hallmark when in uniform. To do that, he had to reject the values that he held for over 25 years. It may be that was the price that he had to pay to be successful on his new path. If true, that is an indictment of him and of the academic world where he now lives.
Your first paragraph makes no sense except as a statement of the blindingly obvious.
You and I aren’t the only ones reading this.
The point of my first paragraph is to show that Bacevich went out of his way to take a slap at some Soldiers. He wasn’t required to write on this subject. A professor, or reporter, could be required to write on this matter. He didn’t need to write anything.
I worked for a short time with Colonel Bacevich. He was a very good Cavalryman. He appeared to be absolutely devoted to mentoring his junior Officers. I was a big fan.
I lost track of him. I heard that he had been relieved. The next time I saw him was on a show on C-SPAN, and he was a professor and seemed angry with the Army. I was very surprised.
I saw what kind of man Bacevich was and I try to understand what happened to him. I think that he is a soul worth saving. If I was his close friend, I’d take him fishing. We’d slug back some bourbon and I’d try to get him to open up.
Not all “acting up” by old Soldiers involve weapons. I think Bacevich is acting up and looking for a fight to try and get it out of his system.
Thanks. I, too, find his behavior out of character and it seems to be getting more strident.
NeoCons dominate the GOP and Free Republic.
Bacevich is a Realist who is highly critical of NeoCons.
Therefore, most Republicans and Freepers detest Bacevich.
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