On the political front, Rome fought less and less through client states… and more and more with its own forces. On the financial front, as the Emperors and Senate wasted the tax revenues, not only was there less for the Legions… but every province that Rome lost because there was no funding for a proper military response… lessened the tax base.
On the one hand, many of the problems of today’s military have been seen before… after WWII and Vietnam… “hollow armies”, breakdown in discipline… But we had time to repair the damage and massive untapped resources…
After burdening the military with “politically correct” hogwash and pulling the rug out from the forces financially… the government shows no inclination to avoid more “Parthias…” Meanwhile, nobody is sure how to fund a couple of more Coast Guard vessels.
The public recovered from the morass of Vietnam… and the massive distrust of the government. Desert Storm kept Iraq from conquering Saudi Arabia and kicked them out of Kuwait… quite possibly preventing a depression in the U.S. and elsewhere… Another 24 hours of combat might well have been in order… but we not only won, we did so with a tiny number of casualties… and support in the field from a great many countries (even Syria!)
But our Treasury seems to want to emulate Zimbabwe… After denying that there was any inflation, the Fed raised Social Security payments 3.7%… Meanwhile, prices at Walmart went up by 25-50% on many items… especially ones from outside our borders… where they have no illusions as to the declining power of the dollar.
We fought a second war in Iraq without getting serious about cleaning up in Afghanistan (until far too late in the game…) We overstretched… we refused to act as if it were a “real” war and increase the regulars… instead damaging the Guard and Reserves for a generation or longer…
Our politicians (both parties) are often in danger of achieving the Roman level of corruption. The Midwest delegation that signed on to “Obamacare” in return for their state getting Medicaid for free… forever… did several kinds of harm to the Republic… but satisfied the mob at home and ensured their re-election…
The politicos are more concerned about “political correctness” in the military than being able to fight and win wars. It is not that women and gays should not serve… It is rather that they should be held to the same standards… and no instructor or commander should have his career ruined because he refuses to enlist, graduate, promote those who are not qualified.
It is not a mere matter of changing Administrations (though it most urgently needs done…) The rot goes deep. The damage is severe… The public is ignorant and misled…
At one point in its history, Holland held off countless Spanish armies (the finest in the world at the time). Dutch leaders such as Maurice of Nassau brought back the idea of the Roman Legions… Raised war to an art, instead of the squalid butchery that it had been since the fall of Rome.
But the Dutch Army these days has the right to strike. Only the Dutch Marines are fit for counter-terror work.
When the Korean civilian airliner 007 was shot down by the Soviets… a prominent Dutch newspaper said, “We should very much like to condemn this brutal act of murder by the Soviet Union… but we lack the moral standing to condemn anyone while we still have some gay couples in Amsterdam who lack public housing…”
“There may indeed be finite limits to man’s wisdom… but there are absolutely none to his folly…” -SLA Marshall-
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