Quote:
Originally posted by sgtclub
Didn't Rummy also serve?
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He did. Navy aviator during peacetime (post-Korean war), retired with rank of Captain.
Not to disparage his military service in any way, but I don't think three years in your twenties as a junior officer during peacetime gives you quite the same insight into the use of military power and its limits as a career spanning several decades where you are responsible for the lives of many soldiers.
I have a lot of respect for the military opinions of career officers; it may come from the fact that my own father retired (pretty young, he had another career afterwards) as a senior level officer and I've spent time around some reasonably high level military officers. But you learn something wrestling with these problems over decades in many different environments, and that is why many of the top brass are much more conservative about the use of military power than the career politicians.
