Should Generals be Diplomats? "Retired General Colin Powell was appointed US Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, and you may recall his colorful powerpoint presentation before the UN General Assembly in the run-up to the 2003 war on Iraq—yellow cake, aluminium tubes, mobile chemical laboratories (think: Breaking Bad). Powell did not convince very many of his colleagues at the UN that Iraq needed to be invaded in order to thwart Saddam Hussein’s allegedly imminent transfer of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) to Al Qaeda, but the US government went to war anyway. Why?...
Global War on Terror
‘Newspaper Generals’: The Shared Legacy of David Petraeus and Nelson Miles
As the United States closes the door on its two-decade war in Afghanistan, the last person the American people need to hear from is the man who not only contributed to the war being prolonged a decade, but who wants it to continue for another (or more). And yet here is “King David” Petraeus, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, riffing in a casual interview with The New Yorker about how his counterinsurgency ideas were never given a large enough time frame to succeed, and hocking the same “lessons” he’s been repeating for years. Should the man who lengthened and exacerbated the...
The Drone Program Whistleblower Problem
“I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole...We had entire training courses...” - Former CIA Director and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The concept of whistleblowing seems simple on its face: a government employee recognizes that crimes are being committed by the agency they work for and reports them so that the public is made aware that their tax dollars are being misused by those in charge. But what happens when large parts of the operations of an entire agency (such as the CIA), or even the entire executive branch of government, are grounded in immoral...
A Veteran’s Memorial Day Message
Happy Memorial Day. This weekend towns will throw parades, friends and family will visit cemeteries, and communities will reconnect at barbecues, swimming pools, and football games to inaugurate the summer. During these festivities I ask that you take a moment to pause. For one minute, reflect and remember. Give remembrance to 1.4 million American combat deaths, stretching from the Revolutionary War to today. In particular, consider the 7,057 uniformed men and women who have been killed in the ongoing Global War on Terror. They’re numbers not mentioned often enough by our politicians. But...
Veterans Group Condemns Extension of the War in Afghanistan
Yesterday BringOurTroopsHome.US, a veterans advocacy organization composed of former soldiers of the Global War on Terror and their civilian allies, condemned the Biden administration’s extension of the war in Afghanistan and the subversion of the Doha Agreement, damaging the credibility of the United States on the world stage and playing political football with the livelihoods of our soldiers. When Joe Biden assumed office on January 20, the United States was already set on a course for a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan by May 1. The Biden administration has had over three...
State Legislators Are Working To Reign in the Empire
Fed up after years of relentless National Guard deployments in undeclared wars, state lawmakers across the country are pushing legislation that would prohibit the use of Guard units in combat zones without a formal declaration of war by Congress. The bills are being promoted by BringOurTroopsHome.US, a self-described organization of “right-of-center” veterans working to end American involvement in “endless wars” and restore congressional authority over war-making. The libertarian 10th Amendment Center is also backing the cause. The proposed laws would require governors to determine the...
How State Legislators Can Bring Our Troops Home
In summer blockbusters and other entertainment, the United States Armed Forces are almost always portrayed through the lens of their most elite units, such as the Navy SEALS or the Army Rangers. But while the special forces are heroes in their own right, they’re not the most irreplaceable piece on the board. That designation falls to the humble National Guard, the real backbone of America’s military. I’ve served in the Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and the Idaho National Guard. In my deployments to Afghanistan, I found the Guard to be the best trained of them all. Numbering nearly 350,000...
It’s Time To Cut the Philippines Loose
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte once again extended the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States after flip-flopping on the issue twice this year. The Trump Administration missed the chance to call Duterte’s bluff and end the one-sided agreement. When the time comes, the Biden Administration shouldn’t make the same mistake. Duterte criticized the United States’ decades-long military presence in February and called for the abrogation of the VFA. The VFA has allowed U.S. troops to easily move in the Philippines for 20 years now to honor the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty...
The Endless Fantasy Of American Power
"Saving the United States’ soul will require an honest reckoning with post–Cold War U.S. foreign policy and, above all, with the reckless misuse of military power that forms its abiding theme." Andrew Bacevich at Foreign Affairs: In this year’s presidential election campaign, candidates have largely sidestepped the role of armed force as an instrument of U.S. policy. The United States remains the world’s preeminent and most active military power, but Republicans and Democrats find other things to talk about. Ever since the end of the Cold War, successive administrations have...
Imagining a Memorial for the Veterans of the Global War on Terror
Memorials are intrinsically meant to be a community fixture. There is a reason they are placed in the public square, made the focal points of parks and included alongside bustling streets instead of being kept away for private eyes or individual observance. Memorials are a collective means of commemorating and honoring past events, leaders, and sacrifices. This utility of unity has been contradicted in the past decade as monuments from the previous century have aroused a maelstrom of controversy and sometimes vandalism. The primary examples are monuments to the Italian explorer...
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