John T. Reed’s blog about military matters
Articles on military matters
Posted by John T. Reed on
Some of these have been converted to the Shopify format—my current web site with my photo at the top left. Others are still in the old web site. For the ones whose links do not work, go to http://johntreed.net/military.html and either scan the whole list or use your web browser “Find” function to find the article you are interested in. Over time, I hope to covert almost all of them to the Shopify site.. The bullet at Baldwin’s movie setApr 16, 2024. West Point removing the words Duty Honor Country from mission statementMar 14, 2024. China is a paper tiger...
Is peace better than war?
Posted by John Reed on
Is peace better than war by John T. Reed Copyright John T. Reed It is a given among the political left that peace is always better than war, that diplomacy should be used rather than military force. As World War II war correspondent Andy Rooney of 60 Minutes described his feelings before he visited a World War II death camp, “that the worst peace is always better than the best war.” Are they right about that? Nah. They’re a bunch of airheads. Peace is acceptance of the status quo You cannot answer the question of whether peace is better than...
Is there any such thing as military expertise?
Posted by John Reed on
Copyright John T. Reed You can hardly turn on the TV nowadays without seeing some general or some former military officer in a black turtleneck pontificating on what the military ought to be doing in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, or wherever. Anti-war activists and politicians exalt every word of any current or former military person who supports their position. They criticize President Bush for “not listening to his generals.” Do these current and former military people really have any expertise in winning modern wars? No less an authority on the subject than Prussian Carl von Clausewitz, author of one of the...
Overly generous military pay and benefits
Posted by John Reed on
Copyright John T. Reed 2014 I have criticized military retirement benefits as being way too generous. (Same is generally true of police and fire retirement bennies as well for a similar reason.) So don’t take my word for it. Read the op-ed by a retired lieutenant colonel who says almost exactly what I said about it. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/im-an-army-veteran-and-my-benefits-are-too-generous/2014/06/06/5e8db2ec-eb35-11e3-9f5c-9075d5508f0a_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop Here are selected comments to that and my responses: Derek Wade I don't dispute much of this article, or your own points, Jack, but I am going to say that this experience is NOT typical. He cites a reserve salary of $11,000/year. I...
Should there be a military draft?
Posted by John Reed on
Should there be a military draft? Absolutely. Actually, I think a better question is whether anyone should be allowed into the military by any other means. This article has changed some minds of people who were quite against the draft before they read it. Here is an email from one. I was just reading your article on the draft and I have to say I did disagree at first but after reading it more thoroughly I was really thinking about and I would have to agree and I was discussing with some woman whose a reserve sergeant major in the...