The Army…will be ready to decisively achieve American ends, whatever they may be.
-U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno (April 2012)
Humanity’s flawed nature and all of recorded history warn against allowing U.S. military commanders to sound off in political journals, but after reading U.S. Army Chief of Staff Raymond Odierno in the most recent Foreign Affairs I’m happy for the exception. Odierno comes across as a tragic pick for Chief of Staff, even more so as his views reflect that of America’s elite.
The U.S. military, confronted with an economic depression at home, dispatched Ordierno to expound on the U.S. military’s proper course of future action in a new world of “budget cuts”. Sounding far more bureaucratic than martial, Ordierno bravely accepts the “risks” of a smaller military - shrunk in size from gargantuan to merely gigantic – all the while showing off his lack intellectual depth by promising to “increase (the Army’s) return on the investment of public dollars,” whatever that means.
Words are tragically important, and I’m pained to read that our military, in true Bill Clinton fashion, has morphed into an “investment”. Can we firebomb Tehran, then, while enjoying 6% annualized returns on the investment? (If you invested in Boeing or GE, I’d say “yes”.) The military is not an “investment” but a sad necessity; it’s not a “productive” part of any economy, it is what in business jargon we call a “cost center”. In his opening section Ordierno comes across as more bureaucratic boss fighting for taxpayer money than a military commander.
Damning the “reduced budget” and forging full-speed ahead, his plan for the army involves muscling further into Asia, the better to confront the Dragon, a Dragon no less whose enmity could be worth, minimum, a few hundred billion worth of budget restorations, and Ordierno happily lists our military’s close involvement with Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and our old colonial stand-by, the Philippines. He goes on to promise that our army will be “seeking opportunities to engage new partners” by use of (what else?) taxpayer money since the plan is to “better align our foreign assistance programs with additional engagement opportunities”. We’ll build a hospital hither if you agree to let us build a drone field yon.
As befits a nation that though not an empire, of course, stands astride the entire Earth, the eagle’s gaze falls upon all; hence our army will “retain substantial responsibilities elsewhere in the world”. The Middle East, absolutely the best place in which to meddle should you desire a continuous state of war, will see “a permanent and rotational presence…throughout the next decade” and lest we grow flinty and forget those African, Southern and Central American nations who desire we Take up Our Burden on their territory, Ordierno is “exploring new ways to enhance our support” among the less civilized. The Kipling Doctrine, circa 2012.
Despite a Posse Comitatus Act still in force Ordierno does not leave our beloved Homeland out of the picture as “humanitarian crisis, illicit trafficking, organized crime, terrorism and weapons proliferation”, challenges on United States territory, “remain daunting”. Using his words “Army forces will continue to be ready to contribute to broader national efforts…at home, if needed…We will also dedicate active-duty forces, especially those with niche skills and equipment, to provide civilian officials with a robust set of reliable and rapid response options”. So expect the 82nd Airborne to go after the Corleone clan or the guy down my street who has “too many” rounds of ammo?
The skeleton in the modern U.S. military’s closet, that what creates the unbridgeable chasm of honor that separates today’s soldier from those who fought in World War Two, is Article 1, Section 8 of our U.S. Constitution. In 2,142 words Ordierno never mentions the Constitution, and if you’re a top U.S. commander that document is best not spoken of. Article 1, Section 8 reads that Congress, and only Congress, has the power to declare war. Article 2, which outlines the powers granted the president, does not even mention the world “war”, not once. “Resolutions to use force” and United Nations security mandates are nowhere to be found, either.
Upon induction to the military you do not swear to defend American territory – you swear to defend something vastly more important: the rule of law as embodied by our Constitution. This is something the U.S. military has failed to do since 1942. It has come to pride itself on obedience rather than honor. Our military’s fidelity to the Constitution is its only duty; it provides the only answer as to what the return on our military “investment” is. For far too long now our military “investment” has been destructive of the rule of law.
And that’s the tragic part, the best evidence of how laid waste America’s once formidable bulwark of freedom; the respect for or - in the case of General Ordierno, any awareness of - the limits on power proscribed by the Constitution. If we are to be a nation not of men but of laws – the chief distinction between freedom and servitude – we need the U.S. military to refuse war started with waves of a presidential hand or cowardly, unconstitutional “resolutions to use force” which also just throw the decision for war into the hands of the Executive.
Instead, by continuously going into action sans any declaration of war, our military is far from a band of heroic warriors, but simply a formidable, well-equipped, superbly-trained, tragically obedient dog, sent to run amok in other peoples’ backyard. Judging by Odierno’s words and past actions, when Obama in his imperial majesty says “Look! Libya! Fetch!” or “Look! Syria! Fetch!” or “Look! Kony! Fetch!” off will go Ordierno to fetch.
The military is a distinct caste in any society and Ordierno’s words prove it; he certainly doesn’t think like an American.