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-Great Cultural Revolution
Mission Unaccomplished: Describing Failing US Military as 'Awesome'
2021-12-22
BLUF:
[Common Dreams] When he decided which generals and admirals to fire and whom to hire in their place, Eisenhower didn't have to worry about identity politics. Top commanders were of a single skin tone in 1950s America. Today, however, any chief executive who ignores identity-related issues does so at their peril, laying themselves open to the charge of bigotry.

Which brings us to the case of retired four-star general Lloyd Austin, former Iraq War and CENTCOM commander. As a freshly minted civilian, Austin presides as the first Black defense secretary, a notable distinction given that senior Pentagon officials have tended to be white or male (and usually both). And while, by all reports, General Austin is an upright citizen and decent human being, it's become increasingly clear that he lacks qualities the nation needs when critically examining this country's less-than-awesome military performance, which should be the order of the day. Whatever suit he may wear to the office, he remains a general—and that is a problem.

Austin also lacks imagination, drive, and charisma. Nor is he a creative thinker. Rather than an agent of change, he's a cheerleader for the status quo—or perhaps more accurately, for a status quo defined by a Pentagon budget that never stops rising.
Related:
Lloyd Austin: 2021-12-08 US reaffirms support for Peshmerga to continue fighting ISIS
Lloyd Austin: 2021-12-06 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin admits China is 'on pace to become a peer competitor' to US military and warns Xi Jinping wants to build a THOUSAND nuclear warheads by 2030
Lloyd Austin: 2021-12-03 US Defense Minister warns Ukraine about the threat of an attack by the USSR
Posted by:Besoeker

#7  I don't think we'll lose a war so much as decline to fight when needed.
Posted by: ruprecht   2021-12-22 17:39  

#6  another question is who our Churchill would be in a war of any magnitude and duration.

Have you seen Darkest Hour - the re-imagining of Winston Churchill as a drunken slur cribbing real thinkers while the women around him attempt to keep him upright, and a re-visit to the qualities of Nevile Chamberlain?

Its what the people who cheer and support Lloyd Austin think, and are trying to get the kids to believe. What we would get an angry tranny who will command the palace eunuchs and take the loss of face out on US Citizens, while finding and securing their niche in a bio-medical tyranny, occasionally deploying to protect favored overseas money assets.

Bet the thing is everyone including Austin himself knows he is a placeholder, and that is why he is so willing to be a mouth, put on a ridiculous display face protection, a giant sprocket, and march his 300 pounds ass in front of the smallest white Marines on the roster.

Then there's that fucking wrecking ball Milly Cyrus, who is well know to be able to wax Alexander's choice of foods over properly set dishware but was caught off guard when leaving Afghanistan totally ass backwards, but made sure we got a photo of the last general on scene leaving nobody behind...well, no Afghans at least, just a bunch of allies and citizens and equipment and pallets of cash and one last drone strike and what was left of our reputation.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-12-22 13:26  

#5  We haven't had leaders with the will to win wars for over 30 years now.

Since the Cold War's end their ethos has been defined by warm-fuzzy BS goals like "nation-building", "responsibility to protect," "girls' education," and sundry other cookie-pusher, 3 cups of tea nonsense
Posted by: Merrick Ferret   2021-12-22 11:17  

#4  Equipment and manpower issues aside -- and they are substantial -- another question is who our Churchill would be in a war of any magnitude and duration. Maybe one of our younger combat veterans would step up, but on the national stage the only instinctive fighter I see is DJT. The current administration has appeasement bred into its bones.
Posted by: Matt   2021-12-22 11:09  

#3   It's been a while since we fought a battle without complete air supremacy.

And satellite comms. And GPS. And a military with the will to win. I fear we are in for a shock.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-12-22 10:07  

#2  ^ It's been a while since we fought a battle without complete air supremacy. I'm not so sure about the next one.
Posted by: Matt   2021-12-22 09:33  

#1  ...Sometime in the next year or so, I fear we are going to have our asses handed to us in combat and the response of the men like SecDef will be to shrug and point fingers.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2021-12-22 06:53  

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