Recent Publications

Veterans Day with a purpose, Nov 7, 2007

This weekend marks one of only two federal holidays honoring living Americans: Veterans Day.  The other, Labor Day, give the worker a day off. Veterans Day has drifted from its purpose.  Sure, there are ceremonies, but mostly veteran families commemorate themselves.  For the general public, it's largely another shopping holiday.

What is US military's role? Sept 18, 2007

World policeman or contributing member of a global force? Though the Iraq war is today's focus, decisions about military strategy now will shape the U.S. identity for decades to come.

Left out of all this war planning: The People, Jan 31, 2007

President Bush hints that in times of war, paying too much attention to the niceties of democracy hurts military success. ...But he's taking the wrong tack, even if his plan ot surge troops in Bagdad is exactly what's needed...Bush has read perhaps too much Ten-Minute Manager, and not enough Clausewitz.

Shopping can be patriotic, but citizenship requires more, Nov 8, 2006

This weekend, Americans will once again commemorate a national holiday with the ring of a cash register. ...And it makes sense. We are a nation that conflates patriotism and shopping...

Death never in vain, Oct 3, 2006  

President Bush wants to stay the course in Iraq so that those who have died there will not have died "in vain."Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan urges us to pull out immediately to prevent more Americans from dying in vain.  Bush and Sheehan have both got it wrong. ...

What we owe the fallen, May 25, 2006

Memorial Day, as celebrated today, is a long weekend of barbecues and drinking beer. For many, it approaches its original purpose only as a demonstration of the American way of life that our men and women in uniform die to protect. ...

'For love and for country' , May 25, 2005

Two months ago, my husband read our children a bedtime story until the tears in his eyes blurred the page. My daughter took the book from him.  "Daddy, I'll finish it for you," 7-year-old Sophie said. When she was done, my husband, Greg, rocked her and her younger brother, Charley, and held us all for a long goodnight kiss. Then he picked up his sea bag and walked out the door — to his car, to an air base, and to a plane that carried him to Iraq. ...

Military service can open the eyes of country's 'elite' , January 17, 2005

I recently went to a dinner party attended by Sen. Hillary Clinton. After the meal, an elegant Manhattanite seated beside me asked the senator about a military draft. "Without one," the woman asserted, "they'll never get my educated and talented boys." I'm sure she's right. These days, people of means routinely reject military service....

 

ABC.com  Absence of America's Upper Classes from the Military, Aug 3, 2006

 

 

 

Boston Globe   A Call To Serve,  May 25, 2006

New York Daily News  Class Divide In Military Wounds US, May 28, 2006

Daily Princetonian A Commencement Speech We Would Like George W. Bush To Give, May 19, 2006

Atlanta Journal Constitution

Washington Post What's Lost in the Hue and Cry Over Haditha, June 3, 2006 (Frank Schaeffer)

Los Angeles Times In This Paper, The War Heroes are MIA, June 11, 2006