4 Comments

There are things to think about in Bob Dylan's song; Masters of War. It was written many years ago, but still relevant.

Expand full comment
Aug 6·edited Aug 7Liked by Will Selber

When I read about the casualties this morning I felt outraged. It defies belief that this is happening and seems to go unnoticed. I think I said the words “leadership failure” out loud several times. It’s appalling. How did it come to this?

Here we stand at the apex of our decisions.

It takes integrity to act with honor. At the levels where it matters most, there is none. There has been none since dishonesty was re-normalized as part of our military culture after 9/11. Nobody tells the truth when it matters. Nobody wants to make the hard decision and take ownership.

Our adversaries will keep killing Americans as long as they don’t have to pay a real price for doing so. Until we can have an honest, earnest conversation about the importance of things like honor and integrity this is going to keep happening.

When I deployed for OIF the second time in 05/06 we took two casualties in the first month from an EFP that was detonated from an overhead position. The components of that device, and all the others that we encountered later, were largely sourced from Iran. At one point I wondered aloud why we weren’t conducting kinetic strikes on the facilities in Iran that manufactured critical components. Why not confront the threat more directly in an attempt to eliminate it, instead of faffing about?

Nobody had an answer then, either.

Expand full comment

It's time for America to quit killing proxy leaders and instead kill the leaders of the nation that funds and directs them: Iran. I don't mean Iranian Army leaders, but the mullahs themselves. Knock off a few dozen--or hell, a few hundred--and see how quickly they stop their bullshit.

Expand full comment

Yes why do we not get to fight back when they hurt our soldiers. We are always measuring everything and it seems like always trying to not escalate. Folks in that neighborhood only understand strength. Your rationale makes solid sense. I'm one of those old testament types-- an eye for an eye ...

Expand full comment