The worst and most insidious part is that having the ability to defend yourself and affect the world around you are still the most effective ways to maintain sovereignty enough for self-determination, so there’s a wicked kernel of truth around which layer upon layer of lies, half-truths, and certain-point-of-view justifications are wrapped.

What we were buying was safety and stability, but what we were sold came bundled with as much fine print as the American public can stomach, which is a lot, as it turns out. All you have to say is that we have to attack them to prevent them from retaliating for attacking them and that’s enough.

I really thought we made strides in shaping the military into a more thoughtful force during my tenure in the wake of OIF/OEF so it’s doubly disheartening to see it’s all just coming back to business as usual.