Kitty Antonik Wakfer (@KittyAntonik)

West Point Professor Builds a Case Against the U.S. Army ~David Swanson https://www.opednews.com/articles/West-Point-Professor-Build-by-David-Swanson-West-Point-191207-644.html "West Point Professor Tim Bakken's new book The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military traces a path of corruption, barbarism, violence, and unaccountability that makes its way from the United States' military academies (West Point, Annapolis, Colorado Springs) to the top ranks of the U.S. military and U.S. governmental policy, and from there into a broader U.S. culture that, in turn, supports the subculture of the military and its leaders. ".. "Bakken describes a culture and a system of rules at West Point that encourage lying, that turn lying into a requirement of loyalty, and make loyalty the highest value. Major General Samuel Koster, to take just one of many examples in this book, lied about his troops slaughtering 500 innocent civilians, and was then rewarded with being made superintendent at West Point. Lying moves a career upward, something Colin Powell, for example, knew and practiced for many years prior to his Destroy-Iraq Farce at the United Nations. ".. "But Bakken, like most whistleblowers, maintains one foot inside that which he is exposing. Like virtually every U.S. citizen, he suffers from World War II mythologizing, which creates the vague and unargued assumption that war can be done right and properly and victoriously. ".. "Bakken regrets the U.S. military's failures to take over the world, and the successes of its supposed rivals. But he never gives us an argument for the desirability of global domination. .. ".. "Bakken proposes to turn the U.S. military academies into civilian universities. I'd agree if they were focused on peace studies and not controlled by the militarized government of the United States. ".. "Well, Bakken's analysis of what's wrong with the U.S. military is helpful in getting us toward various proposals whether or not he supports them." David Swanson has written a substantial review of Tim Bakken's book. Reading the full review & considering his critique is worth the time, esp for those who see no wrong in the US Military.... ah, but will such individuals want to even know what's wrong?