Hegseth & His Generals

“Lincoln & His Generals” is an old but seminal analysis of how Abe got along with his depleted & sometimes inexperienced military brass in order to win the Civil War. Our newly coined “Secretary of War” is likewise trying to bring a “warrior ethos” to today’s generals, but does he have the tools to win the Cold War?

That is the big worry expressed by the WSJ’s editorial board, noting how “The Defense Secretary’s talk of a ‘warrior ethos’ is welcome, but where are the weapons?” The editors thought well of “the mystery of why he called 800 or so general military officers based around the world to Quantico, Va. The Defense Secretary delivered an often-useful lecture on the ‘warrior ethos’ … though it would have more credibility if he also gave them more and better weapons to fight with.” Wasn’t that EXACTLY the dilemma Lincoln faced in the first two years of the Civil War? He soon enough had plenty of generals and troops at the start, but the weaponry for a massive army had to be created from scratch and, btw, the technology & tactics were sadly ancient. It wasn’t until 1863 that Lincoln culled out the nincompoops & found General Grant was the leader needed to match the Confederacy’s stellar Gen. Lee; and by then the North’s revved up military industrial complex … back by a generous enough war time Congress … was able to supply the nearly million-strong Union military with then-state of the art ships, cannons and even a repeater rifle the rebels didn’t have.

Fast forward to today. Hegseth may have the generals & troops & even the technological advantage in many areas of modern warfare, but HE doesn’t control the purse strings, Congress as always does. And, they are too busy arguing over whether to bankrupt the country by first giving free Medicaid to illegal aliens. So, for now, the Knute Rockne/Patton speech is going to have to suffice. The WSJ acknowledged that “Esprit de Corps” Trump & Hegseth are now embedding can go a long way in holding the fort. But, to win the war, Congress is going to have to get it’s s*** together too.

Davd Soul