Deep cuts in the U.S. defense budget will have a negative impact on U.S. national security. Equally, if not more worrisome, are the effects of the strain we are putting on our warriors by endlessly placing them in harm’s way with no clear victory they can tell themselves was worth their sacrifice. (Read the full column at EWRoss.com)
Filed under: Military, ABC News, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan, all-volunteer military, and wars without clear victories, attacks on 9/11/2001, battlefield victories, Benjamin Karney, bottomless well, burned Qurans, cauterized wound in America’s psyche, commander-in-chief, conflict with Iran, Congress, democracy, Ed Ross, ewross, family separations, fleeting events, free and democratic government, future of Iraq remains in doubt, immunity from prosecution in Afghan courts, in harm’s way, Iraq and Afghanistan, Iraq military, israel, Kabul, Korean War, lasting peace, liberation of Iran, Military budget, military capabilities, military divorce, military leaders, military recruitment and retention, Military victory is not an outdated concept, Muslim world, nuclear weapons ambitions, Occupy Wall Street movement, Osama Bin Laden, pay and benefits, percentage of the American population serving on active duty in the military, Persian Gulf, personal sacrifice, President Barack Obama, RAND Corp, repeated deployments, sacrifice, SEAL Team 6, serving and defending their country, stability, staff sergeant who massacred 17 Afghanis, status-of-forces agreement, strategic partnership agreement, suicide rates in the U.S. armed forces up 80 percent, the 99 percent vs. the 1 percent, the American warrior., The First Gulf War, U.S. air and naval forces, U.S. defense budget, U.S. forces, U.S. military the most respected institution in America, U.S. national security, U.S. warriors have performed magnificently, Vietnam War Veteran, White House, world war II