With the start of the Olympics in South Korea, no doubt military news will stay focused on the crisis in North Korea with threats of a nuclear attack on the U. S. We have about 30,000 troops stationed on the dangerous DMZ there, and I know something about that because I was one of them a number of years ago.
But, with all the current political discussion about domestic issues like the Mueller Investigation, the Budget, and DACA, do we have to be reminded we are at war folks? It probably seems to be outside our view because the President has delegated fighting to our Generals. That may seem logical, particularly with President Trump's proven limited ability to focus on complex issues and his obvious lack of knowledge of warfare. But consider:
We, in addition to the 30,000 troops in Korea, now have the following troop levels in the 3 wars:
Afghanistan--20,000 troops and contractors, recently up 30%.
Iraq--5,000 troops and contractors.
Syria--2,000 troops and contractors.
We are told there is recent success in eradicating ISIS in these 3 wars, but we are also told the Talaban has just moved in behind them. Putin is running the whole show in Syria, with reports of more gasing of civilians in country.
I remember when wars were the most important public policy for our country. We have a President, responsible for guiding our country, particularly in time of war, that has delegated total control of our 3 wars to what President Eisenhower (a former 5 star General) called the "Military Industrial Complex." There seems to be little or no press accountability of these wars. This is the same President that is playing a juvenile game of chicken with a lunatic who has nuclear weapons, threatening a fourth war.
The Wars Stupid.