May I Clarify

I have been thinking about some of the blogs that I have written lately. In retrospect I may have sounded like I am one of the "Fortress America" crowd. That is absolutely not so. Politicians have sucked so much of the blood out of our military that, as a group, they need some rest and rehabilitation.

Starting at the top, the strongest and best able leaders have been forced out, in favor of those more compliant to political purposes. This has allowed the politicians to use the military as a laboratory for social experimentation. The latest being to lower physical standards so that women would be allowed on the battlefield as war fighters. I do not belittle women. My daughters would scalp me. But most do not have the physicality to handle battle field conditions. 

Now they have even restored Sergeant Bowe Berghdahl to active duty after he walked away from his post without permission. At best he was AWOL. At worst he was a deserter. Either way, his proper place is in custody behind bars.

The military is low in numbers, and are being scaled back even more. They are low in equipment and low in morale. Meanwhile, the administration is turning our military bases into low quality "Bed and Breakfasts" for illegal aliens. To put it mildly, our military has serious immediate needs and they are not being met. Those serving need down time and the military as a whole needs reorganization.

Presently, the Middle East is a powder keg and the fuse is burning. But the people that are killing each other are enemies that would happily kill all of us. Both sides despise us. We do not have a true friend in this fight. When your blood enemies are killing each other, don't get in their way.

There are some Middle Eastern governments that would love to see us go after the Caliphate or Islamic State or whatever name they are using today. I am sure Shia Iran would love to see us and the Sunnis killing each other. The same is true of the Shia government of Iraq. The Saudis would love it because it would keep the war from getting to Saudi Arabia. Saudis don't like to fight. They prefer to have us do it for them. Gee, if we were energy independent, we wouldn't have to do their fighting for them. Someone please send a note to the President on that. 

 So my thought is, stay out of that furball. let it shake out for a while. Rebuild our military. Bring up some of the good solid younger officers. We've lost the old generation so let's go for the new. Then, when we have new political leadership that appreciates the great American military, they will be mission ready.