My opinion on the current generation is that I think they are weak but it is not their fault. The degeneration of the US culture goes back to at least the Vietnam War. We started losing our grit in Vietnam and it only has gotten worse since then. We were defeated and humiliated by a fourth-rate military power to point we were cowed by the communist and did not resist them for the rest of the seventies with the coward Jimmy Carter being the greatest example of that period.
It took Ronald Reagan to turn things around; he could nothing about the culture, but he did resist the communist against considerable liberal opposition. Reagan used the Afghan mujahideen to fight the Russians in Afghanistan and other US presidents used our professional military to fight our little wars against terrorists. We have most likely the best military in the world; the problem is that they are not that big. If we get into a war with the Russians in the artic, we will lose. The only hope would be a fast decisive victory by our professional army. If it turns out to be a war of attrition we will lose. We have perhaps 250,000 front line trumps; we outnumber the Russian population by two to one, but they could put perhaps five times more combats troops in the field. The Russians have both a professional and a draftee army. Their people will submit to the draft, but ours won’t. We have a small army and no replacements. We would lose a war of attrition with the Russians. I love my grandchildren with all my heart, but to send them off to war would be nothing short of murder. If the Russians ever understand just how morally weak we are we are screwed.
It took Ronald Reagan to turn things around; he could nothing about the culture, but he did resist the communist against considerable liberal opposition. Reagan used the Afghan mujahideen to fight the Russians in Afghanistan and other US presidents used our professional military to fight our little wars against terrorists. We have most likely the best military in the world; the problem is that they are not that big. If we get into a war with the Russians in the artic, we will lose. The only hope would be a fast decisive victory by our professional army. If it turns out to be a war of attrition we will lose. We have perhaps 250,000 front line trumps; we outnumber the Russian population by two to one, but they could put perhaps five times more combats troops in the field. The Russians have both a professional and a draftee army. Their people will submit to the draft, but ours won’t. We have a small army and no replacements. We would lose a war of attrition with the Russians. I love my grandchildren with all my heart, but to send them off to war would be nothing short of murder. If the Russians ever understand just how morally weak we are we are screwed.