No matter what you think on the war - The American military is now a battle-tested force full of combat veterans...it is more ready to take on combat missions than anytime since WWII...
Huh? By the end of the Vietnam War in 1973 there were 3.5 million Vietnam War veterans. And many Korean War veterans were still on active duty then as well. When I was training for Vietnam in 1968 my two toughest drill instructors were Korean War vets. For that matter, a great many WWII veterans were only in their forties during the Vietnam War, and some of them were still on active duty.
Not that any of this matters anyway, because a nation's military is only as strong as its political resolve and as deadly as the Commander in Chief is willing to let them be. And now, as during the Vietnam war, our nation is being run by weaklings who don't want to use our full military capabilities to defeat islamofacism. I include President Bush in that mix, because in the aftermath of 9-11 he had the full mandate to strike back and hit the enemy with an iron fist. The use of a strong international force and overwhelming military force, was Colin Powell's doctrine, (known as the "Powell Doctrine"). But Bush chose a limited warfare, listening to his civilian POLITICAL advisors like Rumsfeld and ignoring his generals. Powell was a civilian at the time, but was a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a brilliant general). But Powell's strategy was ignored. His requested number of troops was essentially halved by Bush. As everyone now knows, Powell became disgusted with the mismanagement of Iraq and was forced to leave.
Only now do we see Bush trying to smash down the enemy with his "surge". But it's a little late. He should have "surged" Iraq into a smoldering pile of rubble from day one, and installed a large occupation force when he had the means and the mandate. Our military STILL fights with one hand because of PC rules of engagement, too little manpower, and a faltering political will at home. It's true that the Rats want to sit on both hands of our military, by cutting and running, but my point is that the Republicans are becoming more and more like the Dims every day.