Sopko also noted that 144 indictments have already been handed down---thus far 109 convictions have resulted. The last case involved rounding a dozen of our so-called 'Elite Special Forces' at Fort Bragg on charges of bribery, conspiracy, theft of government property, and smuggling. What our brave men and women in uniform were doing was submitting false fuel requisitions, then selling the government-supplied oil on the Black Market.
SIGAR, incidentally, only investigates corruption related to US Occupation in Afghanistan. As we've noted many times, the Military is a vast swamp in serious need of serious draining. Thirty years of Liberal/Neocon policies have turned Reagan's World-Class fighting forces into a morass of political correctness and criminality. As if to underscore the crisis within the Pentagon, a former Afghan War 'hero' was arrested in New York after going berserk and killing a poor, 66 year-old Black man because he "hated niggers."
Dumbing-down and politically-correcting our recruiting standards---combined with the blind hero-worship most Americans pay the Military---has led to this problem. Trump has an even bigger problem than Reagan faced in 1981. In Reagan's case it was mostly a leadership issue: restoring flagging morale and restoring public confidence in the Military during the post-Vietnam Era. Trump has inherited a Military that has rotted from the inside-out.
The US has an advantage in that our military technology is still pretty good, though it is falling behind Russian, Chinese, and Indian technology rapidly. The Trump Administration has taken some positive steps in this direction already by cutting wasteful projects and funding upgrades and seeking out new suppliers.
But the most serious problem in the Pentagon today is a personnel issue. Lowered recruiting standards and dumbed-down schools---along with a lot of shady outsourcing---doesn't give the Trump Administration the same level of human capital that Reagan had to work with. Defense Secretary Mattis has yet to address these issues; which may be understandable for various political reasons.
However, Mattis' moves to root out corruption may be a way effecting these needed changes quietly. What our Military needs is a long-term program training a new generation of both leaders and fighting men. Part of Reagan's strategy was restoring pride in the military by weeding out the drug-pushers and troublemakers who'd plagued our Military during Vietnam. They were replaced by men who took pride in what service and the uniform stood for.
Another indication that things may be changing is last week's Pentagon announcement that nine Navy officials had been convicted in connection with the 'Fat Leonard' scandal. This is, commendably, the first time that the Pentagon has spoken about this case publically at all. Though the 'Fat Leonard' investigation began during the Obama Administration, the Pentagon, Media, and Clinton Machine were colluding in keeping the whole affair well out of public notice.
Trump and Mattis are off to a good start; but it's going to take much more in the long run to reform the Pentagon than wiping out criminal enterprises and upgrading technology. We're going to have to elevate recruiting standards and rid the Military of its current crop of thugs, feminists, radical Jihadis, homosexuals, and social workers in uniform now infesting it. We've had past examples of leaders---Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan---who've had to rebuild militaries to counter threats. The difference is that the enemy is within this time; while Trump and Mattis can rebuild our Armed Forces, it is going to be a long, slow process.
We don't want a Military that looks like this
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