Andrew Sullivan seems worried, as does Glen Greenwald, “about Malkinian rhetoric from a military public affairs officer. The drift toward a nakedly partisan military, operating primarily through partisan blogs and partisan journalists, is truly disturbing.”
Of course, it’s worrisome. Firm civilian control of the military has helped spare the United States a number of problems, ranging from the juntas of Latin America to the militarism of the Prussian General Staff. Yet, I wonder if it is fair to lay all the blame with the military.
One wonders why the first reaction of the Left isn't to ask why the military hates them. No, this time it is purely the military's fault. Self-flagellation is clearly misintepreted as just for those who defend our flag.
Me? Why wouldn't our military be suspicious of a political spectrum that would vote to send them to war and then assert that the declaration of war has expired?
So the question is, when giving consent to wage war, don't those who give that consent have an obligation to maintain that consent until victory? Was there a clause in the Congressional declaration that said it sunsets in 2006 or is there a subsection that allows for a reversal at the 2,000th casualty? And the American people whose support for winning is dropping, the same criticism holds. If our enemies ever believe our people have a particular threshold where we retreat, we guarantee resistance to reach that threshold.
As for worries about our military, they at least are free to believe as they wish. If you wan't to worry about a drift toward naked partisanhip, why don't you look to our universities for examples of the Vanguard of the Baccalaureate in action?
The University of Delaware subjects students in its residence halls to a shocking program of ideological reeducation that is referred to in the university’s own materials as a “treatment” for students’ incorrect attitudes and beliefs. The Orwellian program requires the approximately 7,000 students in Delaware’s residence halls to adopt highly specific university-approved views on issues ranging from politics to race, sexuality, sociology, moral philosophy, and environmentalism.
Why do they hate us, indeed.
