Army Officer Accuses Generals of 'Intellectual and Moral Failures'

[marct]

Hi WM,

I'm not sure that these guys actually need to have served in order to be a littel closer to the issues on which they are either legislating or advising the legislators. I'm not calling for verstehen a la Dilthey or Weber here. I just want a better state of erkenntnis. (I'm sure MarcT or Rex will correct me if I have gotten the distinction wrong. )

erkennen - distinctions right, spellings wrong

I suspect they can gain that insight without going the basic, AIT, etc. route. More to the point is one's willingness to be open-minded and well-informed, I suspect.

I would agree with that. Then again, how likely are we to see those [desirable] characteristics required of politicians????

Na-a-h, I like conscription. If set up properly, it would make the politicos a lot more reticent in sending our men to Nirvanah.

Two years into conscription and the "military" would think it's the best thing that ever happened. Right now you have these petty jealousies about "the best." I'm a pro, I'm the best. You can still be the pro, you can still be "the best"... now let's see just how good you are by making someone who doesn't really want to be there, just as good.

God!, I love a challenge!

Hi Fred - it would definitely be a challenge! The only times we (Canada) ever had it, it was an unmitigated disaster and not something I would like to see repeated. I have a pretty strong feeling, although I couldn't prove it, that an attempt to bring it back in the US would also be an unmitigated disaster both politically and militarily.

I think that you definitely could introduce some form of "national service" (loosely construed) that contained components of military training and discipline but also led to non-military service. Of course, to do it properly, it couldn't be a lottery - it would have to be universal.

Marc