Article

2010-10-08 Afghanistan

In the 10th year of war, a harder army, a more distant America.

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Posted by Besoeker 2010-10-08 12:34|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 But above all, I think, is a perilous shrinking of common ground, the shared values and knowledge and beliefs that have shaped the way Americans think about war.

that is utter nonsense. His fellow jouralistas may not have any clue about the war or the men and women who fight, but I'd say more Americans know someone who's did one one or more tours, and the support for troops certainly hasn't flagged outside the f*cking Democrats and Leftists currently preparing to get their asses thrown out of power

Posted by Frank G 2010-10-08 13:39|| 2010-10-08 13:39|| Front Page Top

#2 Out in fly-over country and below the Mason-Dixon, yes Frank. The heavily peopled, multi-cult urgan elsewhere's, not so much.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-10-08 13:45|| 2010-10-08 13:45|| Front Page Top

#3 I'll repeat -

'For insightful reading of events which have meaning today may I recommend, Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian 1866-1891 by Robert M. Utley. The perspective of a small and overtaxed military establishment conducting operations in a demanding environment, physically and politically, while bringing civilization to the vastness of the west can be related to the contemporary operations on the world stage today. Of particular note would be chapters three: The Problem of Doctrine, four: The Army, Congress, and the People, and eighteen: Mexican Border Conflicts 1870-81.

An excerpt:

Chapter 4. The Army, Congress, and the People. Shermans frontier regulars endured not only the physical isolation of service at remote border posts; increasingly in the postwar years they found themselves isolated in attitudes, interests, and spirit from other institutions of government and society and, indeed from the American people themselves...Reconstruction plunged the army into tempestuous partisan politics. The frontier service removed it largely from physical proximity to population and, except for an occasional Indian conflict, from public awareness and interest. Besides public and congressional indifference and even hostility, the army found its Indian attitudes and policies condemned and opposed by the civilian officials concerned with Indian affairs and by the nations humanitarian community.'

We're still suffering from the relatively small experience that bias our view of our history that was WWII and the immediate period following. In America's long history, the usual ruling and economically higher class never really participated in the military. It never had a sense of "noblesse oblige" of the old English stock, which is that ancestry and privilege entailed responsibility. That responsibility was usually borne by the lower middle class and straight up lower class. However, that played into a institution that, more than most other institutions in the society, which depended and should depend upon merit rather than connections to advance among the population.

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-10-08 13:50|| 2010-10-08 13:50|| Front Page Top

#4 Thank you P2k.

Reconstruction plunged the army into tempestuous partisan politics.

Which continues today.

Posted by Besoeker 2010-10-08 14:00|| 2010-10-08 14:00|| Front Page Top

#5 PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > HAQ'S MUSINGS: JIHADIS GROWING IN TENTH YEAR OF AFGHNA WAR. US-favored military or armed warfare no substitute for SOFT POWER "WINNING OF HEARTS-N-MINDS".

* DAILY TIMES.PK > TERROR THREAT IN EUROPE JUSTIFIED AFGHAN WAR: NATO, albeit NATO [ + EU?] is aware of the Afghan War's growing unpopularity among ordinary Euros + Euro Politicos.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-10-08 20:27|| 2010-10-08 20:27|| Front Page Top

#6 America might be distant from our military personnel, but the rub is we don't want to be.

I think the best solution would be to have large, privately sponsored military dress balls, featuring military personnel in their dress blues, and limited to civilians wearing formal dress.

It would feature unfamiliar things, such as some trained and practiced waltzers, likely officers and their spouses, performing a waltz to a band. But it would also have a stylish banquet.

Such seemingly anachronistic formality has a strange, but very desirable psychology. It is not just a welcome home party, but it is a heroic recognition, putting the military personnel on a pedestal, of sorts, as "the best of us".

It is a cut above a victory parade, and a throwback to 19th Century etiquette. It is far beyond the rather gruesome and tacky display that are modern "Dining-Outs". It is not hosted by the military, so is much more formal.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-10-08 21:19|| 2010-10-08 21:19|| Front Page Top

#7 ..so they can be serenaded by Code Pink going in and Fred Phelps leaving. No thanks.

The people that count already make contact, from Soldiers Angels, Blue Star Mothers, and other civilian initiatives that result in incredible outpouring that troops ask 'no more Girl Scout' cookies. :) It's done in a thousand small ways that connect. Check the search at the Rant for a link to the appearance of George Bush welcoming home troops in the last couple of weeks. While he was the big presence, there were dozens of others there to greet the troops as there generally are from fly over country America. You won't find the 'ruling class' there. That was explained by Shakespeare -

"For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-10-08 22:12|| 2010-10-08 22:12|| Front Page Top

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