#87.2
The American Congress, The American People, and The American Military, through inaction, are weakening the military arm of foreign diplomacy, ultimately degrading National Power and killing young service members.
As the most powerful branch of government, Congress has more authority over the military than any other power source. Yet, self-preservation, committee-seeking, and the abdicating of responsibilities have crippled this branch of government. During this critical time, we don’t need politicians; we need leaders. The people’s outrage following the failed Afghan withdrawal prompted ‘tough questions’ from our congressional representatives to our military leadership.
During this critical time, we don’t need politicians; we need leaders.
But when the show was over… nothing happened. Congressional members can’t relegate themselves to soundbites. The people and the military require action. Congress’ influence over the DoD is simple: the DoD budget. Despite the theatrical outrage, not one representative had the courage to challenge the DoD budget. Holding military leaders accountable should be a non-partisan issue. Are Congress members more scared of the Generals or public opinion? Our political arm of government is literally destroying the military by not holding military leaders accountable.
Remind Congress that We, The People, control representatives in Congress. Congress recently approved one of the largest Department of Defense (DoD) budgets without any demands for wartime metrics of effectiveness contingent on the tax-payers blank check. Seven hundred forty billion dollars for the DoD in 2022. If Americans ever felt appreciation towards a military member’s service… now is the opportunity to support their sacrifices over the last 20 years. Find a voice. Get active. With a phone call and/or letter, demand your representative find the courage to use the DoD budget as a tool for accountability.
If the DoD budget is threatened, We, The People, can expect the Generals will point to an imminent China threat. Yet, We, The People, should expect Congress to point back at the General’s previous failures and demand accountability. No senior leaders are held accountable… cut 25% off the next DoD budget. Watch the problem solve itself. Think the military can’t survive with that kind of budget cut… ask me… I have an endless list of fraud, waste, and abuse within the military. We need less political rhetoric and more leadership. Our Republic requires it now more than ever.
We, The People, are also afraid to criticize the military directly. It feels UnAmerican. Many service members have sacrificed, suffered, protected, and defended our country for 245 years. How could an American who hasn’t served be critical? Yet ironically, the people’s lack of criticism is actually killing more service members than combat. Without transparent, open conversations, America will repeat the same mistakes. We, The People, are killing service members with appreciation.
Military leadership should hold themselves accountable. But when senior military leaders don’t hold each other accountable for wartime failures, the military can’t reward success. When military leadership leaves failure in place, they reward a culture of mediocrity. Senior leaders have stopped taking risks because they don’t need to succeed. The American military has created a culture of senior leaders who know how to survive… but not win. America now has is a group of hard-working, talented, risk-averse conformists.
Furthermore, much like Eisenhower predicted… the military-political-economic machine has grown so big and muddled that we’ve lost our way. The military’s procurement process is broken. There is a monopoly within the government contracting world, further exacerbated by lucrative jobs for all our General officers. Over the last twenty years, the Executive Branch has yet to select a Secretary of Defense with the ability to make the required changes. We don’t need General officers in this seat. We don’t need businessmen absent military experience. We need a leader who understands foreign policy, is very familiar with the military and has the courage to make the fundamental changes required. Lloyd Austin said the biggest challenge to the DoD was COVID. The emperor has no clothes. You must see it.
There are times in history when action is critical. The military must be fundamentally changed if America wants to remain a global power. All other sources of power flow from the military arm of foreign diplomacy. Soon it will be too late. We, The People, need to find our voice. We need leaders in Congress. We need a military that holds senior leaders accountable for failure. United, we stand. Silent, we fall. We Can’t ALL Be Wrong.
We Can’t ALL Be Gagged. We Can’t ALL Be Imprisoned.
#AuthenticAmericans #PrisonerSQ13 -PubliUS
