Military Malfeasance

I have no doubt that the number of incompetents is larger than the number of traitors. Such is human nature. In all spheres of life, the incompetents will generally go with the flow and follow those who send down the orders, even if the orders are traitorous. This includes the military and police. 

Where there is real danger is when the traitors in power are incompetents who have lost the ability to discern reality from fantasy. The left has always had this problem. From the Jacobins, to the Communards, to the Nihilists of Narodnaya Volya to Lenin and his Bolsheviks, to Hitler and his Nazis, Mao and his CCP, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge, the left has always been a pack of criminals with an insatiable lust for power to build their castles-in-the-air dream world. Regardless the cost in blood and treasure. Of others. 

The link is to an excellent piece on just how our elites interest in pushing such things as LGBTUVWXYZ vomit, has served to ruin much of what America has done over the last twenty years. The author really hits them hard on the attempt to get women equality in all aspects of Afghani life. 


We need to fumigate our elites

One of the central themes in Hira Singh is that Sikh regimental leaders may quickly find themselves a casualty in war if they displease their unit.

I can’t begin to understand the dynamics of the forces in Afghanistan or the military command structure. But you paint an appropriate bleak picture, Artler. And some kind of bleak picture must be true to account for the facts. If not this one, then another. Or all combined.

I know it’s not cool to criticize the selfless rank-and-file soldier. But I wonder how many knew through the grapevine that their service in Afghanistan was often more along the lines of the Peace Corps than a true military operation. It might not be just the top that is rotten. And every time I see some 110 lb. woman in camouflage in the check-out line of the grocery store, that certainly is evidence to me that a whole lot of people other than just generals are on the gravy train of government.

I’m not saying there aren’t risks. But we’ve been lied to for over 20 years. And such large lies are usually known by many. Obviously it was known by all commanders that the Afghan army was a paper tiger and that if America pulled out, they would fold like a cheap tent. That must be a primary reason why no one wanted to be the guy to bug out.

That a “let’s eradicate the Taliban” turned into “nation building” probably has more than one tentacle as to the cause. But I think the primary cause is the false notion of Islam amongst most people in society. They are viewed as just another victim group of those nasty white Christian straight males who used to own slaves. Most in our society (in or out of the military command structure) are ill equipped to deal with the reality of Islam. Their illusions predominate.

As for why any sane country would put the self-validation needs of weirdos, queers, and cross-dressers above military necessity shows just how crazy our society has become. And I don’t blame this just on the stupid generals. This stuff is all over now. It’s like The Blob that just keeps showing up everywhere and smothering everybody with its goo.

Military doesn't know how many Americans in Afghanistan          


This is a somewhat amazing claim. I understand that intentional chaos presently reins in Afghanistan, but surely, our government must have some idea of how many Americans are in country.

When I lived overseas, American Embassies asked all Americans in country to register with the Embassy. As I recall, the main reason for this request was that the Embassy wanted to be able to contact Americans quickly in case of situations like the present one in Afghanistan. 

Having lived in places like Singapore, Japan and Switzerland, I never felt the urge to register. Had I lived in today's Afghanistan, you can be sure I would have been on the Embassy's list. I imagine most Americans in Afghanistan will have felt the same way. So the question is..."Why don't we know how many Americans are still in Afghanistan." 

You did not need to repeat it, but I appreciate it. This was something driven into my head by either David Horowitz or Daniel Pipes (or both). The exact formula, I forget. But it’s the realization that when the percentage of Muslims is higher than X amount (about 7% or so, from what I remember), they change their attitude from having to conform (more or less) to the society that they live in to trying to impose their Nazi-like political/social/economic/religious system on the rest of the inhabitants.

Ok, Brad for every warrior the story is different but surprisingly the same.

In early 1970 my first marriage was on the rocks. I knew getting married was a mistake and so did my ditty wife. I had done one semester of university, Stanford, which my family paid for but the commute from Sacramento to Palo Alto was grim. I considered transfer to UC Davis or Sacramento State and decided that was not for me at that time. What to do? 

Well, I followed my father's example and enlisted in Marines in the middle of February 1970. Two weeks later I was standing on the yellow footprints at MCRDSD. I knew, as well as it is possible, that I would be sent to Vietnam. At that time I had no idea that it would be as a civilian not a marine. Nor, did I have any awareness that path would take me to South America, Europe and the Middle East. It was an adventure, a chance to be a part of a strong and proud military and serve my family and my nation. 

It was that one semester at Stanford that changed it all. Some one must have flagged my CV when I enlisted and the skills I learned from the old gunny, my father, further brought me to the attention of whatever godlike beings inhabit personnel for DoD and CIA. My last week at basic I was recruited by the agency and was on a plane east the next day. Two days later I was a civilian again and my entire service record had been purged. That was defiantly not the path I expected.

I had expected to be in combat with a fire squad of marines. The only time I saw real combat was fighting with an army I had not joined. I was wounded in Nam, could have been serious, but it wasn't. My partner and I felt pretty salty on our return to real world USA in September 71. We even related our experiences to new agency recruits going to Vietnam just to give them the flavor of the place. Speaking of flavors, it has been 50 years and the smell of fish sauce still brings flashbacks. 

My dreams are occasionally troubled by the sights, sounds and smells of deployment to hostile locations. I suppose those memories are fully entrenched in my mind. In that I don't think I am alone. My biggest regret is that my grandchildren here and in Israel have to live their  lives with the same. War is the father of us all. We hate it, despise those who force it upon us, yet we cannot resist its call. 

No one thinks they are going to be the last KIA or WIA in a war, yet thousands reenlist and return to the same wars time after time. In one way it is a good thing as their practical experience is a great training tool for FNGs (fucking new guys) and helps keep the numbers killed or wounded lower. For some there is an adrenaline rush in combat that they seek to keep. For others life outside the military is something they cannot handle. They need the discipline and rules. I think this is an important reason we have career military who spend 20-30-35 years in the ranks. Life as an independent free person is scary. Like many police officers there is an out of range cases of suicide among retired military. 

Roman soldiers used to be landowners and would only be conscripted for a fighting season or war and then be released. the same was true for the Greeks. However, with the Marian reforms in about 75 BCE the army became a full-time institution. Soldiers enlisted, essentially for life 20 years. At which time they might be pensioned off, given land in some remote part of the empire and encouraged to marry and raise sons to fill the ranks in 15-16 years. 

For the better part of 500 years the western empire functioned with few variations with this system. By the 3rd century CE the ranks came to be filled with more new citizens from Gaul, Germany and the Balkans. Many of these non-Romans were offered Roman citizenship for their service. So over the last 2000 years not much has changed. The reasons for joining are still the same and often the reasons for staying are remarkably the same. 

The warriors business is still the same. The violent imposition of political policy. The weapons are different as is the lethality of those weapons. But joining, fighting and living to tell the tale is exactly the same. 

Makes sense. I will say that the burden of proof is not on why any man would want to join the military. Warfare is the human norm. As you said, it’s the father of us all.

Still, as Elaine said:





My understanding is that, historically, a large motivation for the soldier was traditionally pillage. Absent that in the modern day (at least with Western armies), do you suppose that (aside from wanderlust, adventure, or lacking a firm purpose in civilian life) that many now view the military as a sort of quasi Peace Corps where their do-gooderism can play out?

Watch the third video, i.e. Tucker Carlson. It confirms what I have been saying a long time now. 


Follow the money          


Our elites are thoroughly corrupt. I tend to the school of philosophy that maintains, by-in-large, they always have been. What is different is the way government has grown since FDR. Eisenhower warned of this. The military-industrial-intelligence-foreign-policy-financial complex is so large and the money to be made so enormous that only a saint could resist the corruption which naturally sprouts from such a situation. As we all know, saints rarely seek the power to rule over people. 

It’s strange to think that after 20 years, the Afghani military couldn’t find something worth fighting for. How does this not prove the inherently tribal nature of the region, a place where “nation building” made as much sense as trying to freeze water in hell?