When we send young men and women into combat we put their lives – physical, emotional and moral lives – at risk. Their dedication and willingness to sacrifice for our freedom puts us in their debt.
We pay that debt by being cautious in our decision to go to war. The church recognizes this in the just war doctrine. The Department of Defense formally recognized it in the Weinberger doctrine. James Madison recognized it by requiring that congress make the decision to go to war. This is, or was, a powerful restraint. Congressmen were restrained because they had to stand for election and answer to the parents of the young men (now men and women) sent into combat.
We owe our soldiers something else: adequate training and supervision. If we are going to put them under stress, we should recognize that “the line between good and evil runs through every human heart” (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn). Our reluctance to go to war recognizes that some soldiers in combat will fall into evil. Good training and supervision minimizes this risk.
Katherine McIntire Peters, in the June issue of Government Executive has a candid discussion of the US Army’s investigation of its own failures to supervise and train. She includes graphical displays of the chain of command and quotes from responsible General officers. Unclear lines of responsibility, unprofessional and self-defeating interrogation methods, and inadequate control are all in evidence. Some of the officers have begun to indulge in scapegoating. The final comment, from retired US Army War College commandant Major General Robert Scales says it best: “If the ship runs aground, the captain takes responsibility. That’s the way our culture works.”
I wish the American Catholic Bishops shared a similar culture. When we ask young men to take a vow of celibacy and dedicate their lives to service, we put them under stress. The Bishops failed to provide them with adequate oversight. Now they are, for the most part, stonewalling. The Army, at least, is directly addressing its shortcomings. It must – James Madison provided that the Army is responsible to the elected representatives of the people it serves.
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