Quotes About Military

We are belabored by the insistence on the part of our politicians, businessmen and military leaders, and the claque of scriveners who serve them, that 'growth' and 'power' are intrinsic goods, of which we can never have enough, or even too much. As if gigantism were an end in itself. As if a commendable rat were a rat twelve hands high at the shoulders — and still growing. As if we could never have peace on this planet until one state dominates all others [Edward Abbey].

Henry Halleck was a pedant and a military bureaucrat, but he was not an easy man to fool,

George McClellan's conviction that he was forever outnumbered was the one constant of his military character.

must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. —PRESIDENT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

Military history is rife with examples of generals and presidents who squander strategic advantage by failing to press a battlefield triumph to its conclusion. Here was the same story again, involving not only complacency but also inexplicable strategic judgment, fractured decision making, and confusion.

The administration had spent $4.5 billion on the 2001 war in Afghanistan, including $390 million just to replace a bomber, a tanker, two helicopters, and two unmanned aerial vehicles that crashed during operations. Yet the administration would not propose to spend even 10 percent of the war's cost on Afghanistan's recovery or to secure the peace with new Afghan forces.

Altogether, the United States handed over to Afghanistan about $900 million of "foreign excess real property"—military hand-me-downs of various kinds—and destroyed another $46 million worth because the items were too sensitive or impractical to transfer. The largest single gift was Camp Leatherneck, the United States Marine base in Helmand, valued at $235 million; the Marines lowered the American flag and flew away in late October.28

McChrystal knew he could not "defeat" the Taliban with the troops available, although it was not clear at this point whether that was truly America's objective.

Still, the day-to-day work even within I.S.I.'s less secretive directorates could be very different from that of the military, because of the strict compartmentalization of information. An officer would not have any idea what the man in the next office was doing. Information was telescoped to the top, where only the most senior generals had complete visibility.

The military-industrial complex was one of Pakistan's binding forces, alongside Islam, national pride, suspicion of India and America, and cricket. One common narrative about Pakistan held that its powerful army competed for power with civilian political families like the Bhuttos and the Sharifs.

Doug Lute noted to an interagency meeting that the Taliban appeared to be succeeding with very lean operating funds: "We spend $60 billion a year," Lute remarked. "They need $60 million a year."7

The Coalition Support Funds provided a kind of legal bribery to Pakistan's generals. Musharraf and his lieutenants could use the cash for legitimate military purposes, or they could spread it around as they wished.

Was it conceivable that Bin Laden could live so close to the army's highest seat of officer education for six years without anyone in uniform or in I.S.I. being aware of his presence? Kayani later insisted that it was the case. The compound was not actually visible from the academy. Pakistanis did not routinely get to know their neighbors in the way that many Americans did, he argued to American visitors.

The title of Bordin's work signaled his perspective on these and similar cases: "Lethal Incompetence: Studies in Political and Military Decision-Making.

The military-industrial complex was one of Pakistan's binding forces, alongside Islam, national pride, suspicion of India and America, and cricket.

It is well known…that the military historian is at his best when giving the names of field officers who fell in battle, and at his worst when attempting to explain the reason for the general officer to have made a certain decision at a certain time.

Hello, Capustan. The Bridgeburners have arrived.

The miracle of hindsight is how it transforms great military geniuses of the past into incompetent idiots, and incompetent idiots of the present into great military geniuses. There is the door, and be sure to take all your pompous second-guessing delusions with you…' Emperor Kellanved On the occasion of the conquest of Falari's Grand Council (the Trial of Crust)

The military has a way of ruining all the best recreational activities - scuba, sky diving, camping, hiking - all made much more miserable with a heavy rucksack on your back under arduous conditions.

I find skydiving really hard. I broke my back while skydiving when I was in the military, and for 18 months all my nightmares were about falling.

I'm not anti-war. I served in a war, and I served proudly. But just or not, necessary or not, war is the industrial-scale slaughter of other humans.

I'm gonna tell y'all what we tell the crowd every night when we play back in the States. We tell them to remember people sleeping in a sandstorm so that we can be free.

The Obama administration made it illegal for me to loan any money to anyone in the military. I have one compliance guy just for a pawn shop. It's everything from Homeland Security, FBI, the local police department, IRS - all these regulations I have to keep an eye on constantly, and it's just overwhelming for a small business.

I'm against the draft. I believe we should have a professional military; it might be smaller, but it would be more effective.