My conservative instincts initially put me in sympathy with the views of Colonel Macgregor and some of that sympathy remains and is invoked in this article but the Colonel's explicit, flagrant and nationwide misunderstanding of the combat situation in Ukraine must call into question his level of expertise.
He has been flatly wrong about Ukraine and he has been wrong on national television.
With respect to this article, he fails to comment on the profound changes worked in the American Armed Forces as a result of our misadventure in Vietnam and he fails to adequately consider the impact of technology since then.
This is a democracy and it is the function of democracy to quarrel and squabble over the allocation of resources. This applies to the allocation of resources for defense. If we are not quarreling and debating these issues, we are in danger of becoming victims of cronyism. Colonel Macgregor is wrong when he decries the very existence of contentiousness because it is debate that is essential to the process.
“...Colonel Macgregor is wrong when he decries the very existence of contentiousness because it is debate that is essential to the process.” [nathanbedford, post 27]
You have hit on an important point. It’s better to have the high rankers squabble with each other than it is to afford them the leisure to oppress the citizenry.
Shelby Foote was onto something when he declared Nathan Bedford Forrest to be the ACW’s only authentic genius. Even more astonishing that Ken Burns failed to edit that out.