You see the stories every year about the sacrifices our people have made, on our behalf, for serving in the military.
That we owe our very existence to those brave and patriotic men and women is not even debatable. The families they left behind should not be forgotten either.
While you can, please thank those in uniform for what they do on your behalf. Not just today, but every day. Reach your hand out and thank them for their service.
The strain on the families for their loss is one thing. But what about the strain of protracted wars on the families and the soldiers who decide to make military service a career?
Have you noticed that wars nowadays seem to be longer? Casualties are less in numbers than they once were, but the strain of a 10 year (and counting) war on the soldier and their families are nothing short of extraordinary.
We have seen political correctness dictate a lot of how we fight our wars in the last few decades. The only problem is that our enemies don’t share that same mindset. Our enemies today are unaffected by political correctness and, in fact, use it against us to their advantage.
It’s about time we re-evaluate how we conduct a war, once it is obvious we are in one. Fighting wars that seem to never end is not a winning strategy. After ten years in the Afghan/Iraq war, everybody except our enemy is growing weary. That includes our soldiers and their families doing all the heavy lifting.
Perhaps it is time to take another look at how we will fight a war? What I’m suggesting is committing enough assets to obliterate an enemy in short order, no matter which side of whoever’s border they are on. Once the world wakes up to that ‘new world order,’ the world will be a more peaceful place.
What? I know. I’ve said that this war on terror will last for at least a generation. Have I become war-weary after only ten years? Not exactly.
What is becoming obvious now about the extent of involvement in this war, in terms of number of troops in the whole Eastern theater, is not something we need 25 more years of.
Advances in war technology over the years has exacerbated the problem because now that we can send a missile down a chimney, the term “collateral damage” has taken on new meaning. Seems that the more accurate the bombs then the longer the war, out of fear of killing ‘civilians.’ And any commander in theater today will tell you the toughest part of the job is determining the enemy from civilians. Especially when there are no uniforms to tell them apart.
So yes, hit hard. Not a little here and a little there. Hit completely. When the sanctuaries are completely destroyed, the enemy and those living with them would see that coming back to fight another day would be futile. Needing perhaps only a fraction of troops currently deployed to see the war to its end in a generation or so.