“As we conduct operations around the world we represent the United States with our moral and ethical values,” said Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s top officer. I have often questioned the military’s moral and ethical values. Now we read that “data obtained by The Associated Press shows that the number of officers who left the Army due to misconduct more than tripled in the past three years.” Specifically, “the number of enlisted soldiers forced out for drugs, alcohol, crimes and other misconduct shot up from about 5,600 in 2007, as the Iraq war peaked, to more than 11,000 last year.” The article comments that “the data reveals stark differences between the military services and underscores the strains that long, repeated deployments to the front lines have had on the Army’s soldiers and their leaders.”
I have a solution. End the repeated deployments. Better yet, end all the deployments to fight senseless and unnecessary foreign wars. Bring all the soldiers home and keep them home. Defense not offense. The American empire must be dismantled.
7:56 am on February 16, 2014
