I come from a family with generations of military tradition. Our first émigrés fought in the Civil War to end slavery. My grandfather killed Nazis in France and Belgium. I served an enlistment in the Marine Corps, during which time I learned more about myself and the world around me than I ever did in any university. I made the best friends and underwent the most life-changing experiences. Upon my return to civilian life, had anyone asked me if I would recommend military service to my friends, loved ones, or future children, I would have said absolutely.
Ask me that same question today, and I would say absolutely not. Emphatically not. Unequivocally not.
There were many reasons why people enlisted during my time in the military. College money. Job training. Travel and adventure. But patriotism was always a given. There was nobody with whom I served who didn’t love their country or take their duty seriously, be they conservative or liberal, black or white, religious or atheist. This was nurtured, sustained, and practiced by an officer class that reflected those same values. This isn’t to say that stupid decisions were never made at the disconnected levels of higher leadership. Believe me, plenty were. But none of them were rooted in moral cowardice.
Today, it seems like Pentagon policy is rooted in nothing but moral cowardice.
Much has been made of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Austin told Congress he had “no regrets” about the chaotic Afghan withdrawal that left thirteen Americans and untold numbers of Afghan allies dead, our international reputation in shambles, and an enemy in control of more land than they had before the war. “To [his] knowledge,” nobody was ever held accountable.
Is it “to his knowledge” that the Taliban are in the process of formally joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative? The Taliban sent America running without firing a shot (or, more accurately, without us firing a shot). Now China is taking over Afghanistan without firing a shot. And they’ll do so knowing that Afghan hearts and minds aren’t won by wasting hundreds of millions of dollars peddling gender studies and Dadaist toilet art. Monkeys randomly laying down tarot cards could have predicted this, but our Pentagon bureaucrats couldn’t. Austin’s “knowledge” isn’t exactly a wonder to behold.
Then there’s General Milley, who held secret phone calls with his Chinese counterpart regarding concerns with then-President Trump. Who is concerned about “white rage” in relation to the January 6 protest (but not in relation to Antifa, Occupy, or any downtown or state rotunda takeovers). Who promotes teaching critical race theory to West Point cadets.
It may be true that Milley and Austin, along with Jim Mattis, John Kelly, and all the other think-tank cackling hens never met a gazillion-dollar two-decade defeat they couldn’t snatch from the jaws of victory. But to be fair, there are trends and policies in place, the minutiae of which they can’t be expected to know. These are decisions implemented by lower-ranking but still senior leadership, such as allowing drag shows to take place on military installations and with military personnel. Or discharging over 8,000 servicemembers for refusing the COVID vaccine (only 43 of whom have rejoined). Or allowing soldiers going through “gender transition” to hang back in the barracks for almost a year while everyone else goes off to fight. Or launching $34.2 million witch hunts to monitor and root out “extremists” (i.e. Christians and conservatives) from our ranks. Or that our troops are housed in deplorable conditions. Or that it’s considered a “risk” that 80% of recruits come from military families. Or churning out nauseating recruitment videos broadcasting to our enemies that our military now prioritizes diversity, having two moms, and shattering stereotypes over winning wars, as if they need any convincing after Afghanistan. (For a look at what Russian and Chinese military leaderships are prioritizing, watch here.)
Remember the lesson from Nuremberg that “just following orders” was not a valid excuse? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not comparing the atrocities committed by Wehrmacht high command with running tone-deaf recruitment ads, or even with bumbling incompetency that gets troops killed. But the crux of the argument is that, while it is imperative that a military follows the orders of its civilian leadership regardless of the political ideologies involved, we also need an officer class with the moral courage to do what’s right in the face of overwhelming ineptitude and shameless careerism at the cost of dead servicemembers who, on the day their leaders abandoned them, were making below minimum wage.
Congress requires all two-star generals and above to inform it if there are any concerns they have about the actions of the executive branch. Hence, there is a legal outlet for them to challenge orders they deem reckless, counterproductive, or treasonous. German officers didn’t have this avenue, but ours do, so there should be no excuses. There are roughly 200 generals ranking two stars and above in our military today. How many of them are we aware of who, since Biden’s inauguration, informed Congress about any of the aforementioned concerns, the Afghan humiliation being the most paramount?
Zero.
There are over 83,000 officers in our armed forces. After the Afghan humiliation, how many of them publicly voiced their concerns?
One.
Related: Give Me Your Ungrateful, Your Criminal, Your Anti-Western Masses Yearning To Loiter Free
Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Authur Scheller, not having access to the Congressional fast-track that his seniors never used, went on YouTube to mildly and respectfully demand accountability from senior military leadership. For his integrity, he was court-martialed and convicted of, among other charges, dereliction of duty.
Dereliction of duty. From a military command that gave us arguably the worst military disaster in our nation’s history, to rot alongside the infamous failures of Cannae, Dien Bien Phu, and the fall of Constantinople. The irony is sickening.
Imagine young, patriotic Americans considering military service, being counseled by recruiters or ROTC leaders about the importance of accountability, and then seeing our military leadership openly flaunt that accountability — and destroy our reputation — to protect their careers. And then witnessing the only officer in the entire reeking edifice with the moral courage to speak out get burned at the stake. And then witnessing his fellow officers observing from the crowd, some heckling and jeering, but most just watching sheepishly, hoping not to attract the roaming gaze of the inquisitors.
Feel like signing up for that?
To paraphrase Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, if our military had more Arthur Schellers, our troubles would be over very quickly. Instead, we seem to be top-heavy with Alexander Vindmans — amorphous fluffers whose youthful valor was long ago jettisoned at the bottom rung of the greasy Pentagon ladder. Scheller spoke out against systemic, criminal negligence and was punished. Vindman threw a hissy fit because President Trump didn’t take his personal advice on Ukraine policy (which apparently is an impeachable offense) and was lionized, canonized, knighted, and sainted.
“Gee, why can’t we get anyone to join?” ponder the forehead-slapping, over-ribboned clowns. “Must be due to a tightening labor market from the success of Bidenomics.”
Yeah, maybe that’s it. Or maybe the most selfish generation in human history sees no benefit in taking orders from their ethical clones in the Pentagon. When you have patriotic, proven veterans themselves telling their kids not to serve, what advice do you think nonbinary, purple-haired Kalen is getting from his mom and dad cohabitant female-bodied and male-bodied flax seed eaters?
The military’s short-term solution is to open recruiting to the fatter and dumber. But our broken military cannot start to heal until its officer class, particularly the general grade, grows a backbone. As it stands, prospective recruits see leaders who will send them out to suffer the consequences of sneering narcissists whose fabled expertise in military strategy gets routinely outmaneuvered by illiterate Pashtun goatherds and Yemeni nomads. The double standard is glaring. A private who fails a uniform inspection literally faces sterner punishment than did anyone responsible for the lives and treasure we flushed away in Afghanistan.
Accountability for thee, but not for me. Try that for a recruitment ad. At least it would be honest.