The American Military Uncontained Out Everywhere and Winning Nowhere

The American Military Uncontained
Out Everywhere and Winning Nowhere
By William J. Astore
When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking.  Two fast U.S. Navy ships colliding with slow-moving commercial vessels with tragic loss of life.  An Air Force that has been in the air continuously for years and yet doesn’t have enough pilots to fly its combat jets.  Ground troops who find themselves fighting “rebels” in Syria previously armed and trained by the CIA.  Already overstretched Special Operations forces facing growing demands as their rates of mental distress and suicide rise.  Proxy armies in Iraq and Afghanistan that are unreliable, often delivering American-provided weaponry to black markets and into the hands of various enemies.  All of this and more coming at a time when defense spending is once again soaring and the national security state is awash in funds to the tune of nearly a trillion dollars a year.
What gives?  Why are highly maneuverable and sophisticated naval ships colliding with lumbering cargo vessels?  Why is an Air Force that exists to fly and fight short 1,200 pilots?  Why are U.S. Special Operations forces deployed everywhere and winning nowhere?  Why, in short, is the U.S. military fighting itself -- and losing?
Click here to read more of this dispatch.http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176325/tomgram%3A_william_astore%2C_the_superpower_that_fought_itself_--_and_lost/#more