In Generals We Trust?

Vietnam remains the greatest military disaster in American history. In Vietnam, the political leadership did not commit enough troops or enough will for a decisive victory. Vietnam divided the nation and scarred America’s national character.

Another consequence from the Vietnam War was the shock waves it sent through the American military. Every level of the United States Army was reexamined and subjected to criticism. Since the end of World War ii, America had been considered the greatest military on Earth. However, both Korea and Vietnam revealed deep flaws in the conscript system.

The final nail in the coffin was the botched rescue plan during the Iran hostage crisis in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter. Eight service members died when a military helicopter collided with a transport plane at a desert airfield. Under the Reagan administration, the Army overhauled its identity and organization, and became a true professional army. Today, the U.S. Army has become the most professional and well-trained force in all of history. But has it learned the lessons of history?

Historian Niall Ferguson thinks so. A large part of Vietnam’s failures revolved around political leadership ignoring the advice of military personnel on military decisions. Today, three generals hold some of the most important jobs in President Donald Trump’s cabinet. Ferguson wrote in the Boston Globe:

Should the rest of us be worried that three key posts in the Trump administration are now held by military men? Gen. James Mattis is secretary of defense, despite having retired only recently as the general in charge of Central Command. Gen. John F. Kelly is secretary of Homeland Security, having previously run Southern Command. Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster was, until his appointment as national security adviser last Monday, number two at the Army Training and Doctrine Command. It has been a very long time indeed since career soldiers (as opposed to civilians who had served their country in time of war) held this many top-level government jobs.

All three generals have seen extensive combat experience, ranging from Vietnam to the Iraq War. All three are also considered soldier-scholars, especially Generals Mattis and McMaster. They represent the sharp edge of America’s officer corp: highly educated, highly successful, brave, dutiful and deadly. The combination of expertise, precision and ethos of these men is unmatched. Ferguson has even higher praise:

I do not say this lightly: Never in the history of the English-speaking peoples has there been an officer class this good. It is not just that they are smart and knowledgeable. Seared by the memory of Vietnam, they have an ethos of selfless public service that is unlike anything I have ever encountered.Whenever I am succumbing to gloom about America’s political future, I remind myself of the unexpected legacy of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Though the Obama administration frittered away the hard-won gains of the later Bush years, the generation that fought those wars has come back home imbued with a new spirit. Incorruptible, indefatigable servants of their country, they have learned the hard way the weaknesses, as well as the strengths, of a political system that subordinates the military to civilian authority.

Generals Mattis, Kelly and McMaster, and their fellow officers have learned the lessons from Vietnam and have prevented widespread loss of morale when the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere went against them. The very fact that the U.S. Army, with very little help from civilian leaders, was able to turn the Iraq War around during the surge is a testament to their leadership. Iraq may have been the most complex battlefield ever to face a soldier and nation.

Despite the leadership available to the U.S. Army, and despite men like Generals Mattis, Kelly and McMaster having top jobs in government, a hard question must be asked: If we have such a good officer class, perhaps the best ever, why have we still failed to win a single war?

Since Japan surrendered in August 1945, America has not won a single war. Korea ended in a stalemate. Vietnam ended in retreat. The war against terror has not stopped terrorism; in fact, terrorism has increased since 2001. President Barack Obama withdrew from Iraq: any gains there were forfeited. The war in Afghanistan continues. Perhaps this is easy to assert in hindsight, but someone actually forecasted that this would happen—at a time when America held even more of the balance of power than it does today. In 1961, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote these prophetic words (emphasis added):

[U]nless or until the United States as a whole repents and returns to what has become a hollow slogan on its dollars, “In God we trust,” the United States of America has won its last war!I said that when we failed to win in Korea! … I say it again, now that the United States government endorsed this Cuban fiasco—its president gave the “go ahead”—and God, the God America has deserted, gave it its most humiliating defeat! What does the Cuban debacle mean?It means, Mr. and Mrs. United States, that the handwriting is on your wall!

Those words were written over 50 years ago, and they have proved true. Was it a lucky guess? No, it was a forecast based on Bible prophecy. The Bible reveals that America will continue to lose wars to their enemies until its people turn back to the God of the Bible. The blame for defeat does not lie with political leaders, the U.S. military, or any one individual. America losing wars—despite the efforts of its best and brightest and bravest—is a judgment against the nation as a whole! The sins of the nation have decided America’s fortunes on the battlefield.

Despite a rash of scandals involving top-level officers (especially Navy officers), the U.S. Army still has the greatest office corp in its history. Generals like Mattis, Kelly and McMaster are outstanding men with flawless records and experience in battle. However, trusting in their brilliance and bravery is not the path to elusive victory. The professional, technological and numerical edge of the U.S. military is futile in the face of divine judgement. There is a way forward, but it involves drastic change. To learn more, read The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong.