A crisis of complacency

Unbeknownst to most Americans, we are in one of the darkest periods in our country's history. Our ability to neutralize threats across the globe has been undermined by years of terrible foreign policy and judgment. The maniacal Islamic zealots of the world are laughing at our incompetence, which is largely due to a few overprivileged Americans. They view our impotent leadership as weakness and have seized opportunity from our perpetual buffoonery to gain power and influence.

Many Vietnam War veterans I've spoken with are furious with their generation for having sold us all down the river. Our military is weakened, our enemies are stronger and greater in number, our country is divided and our national security is more at risk than it has ever been.

After deploying to Iraq in 2003 and 2005, like most Americans I believed in the importance of dealing with the threats of weapons of mass destruction and Islamic fanaticism. Sept. 11 compelled many of us to contribute to the defeat of our enemies and to restore America's prominence in the 21st century.

Incredibly, our leaders have done exactly the opposite of what we entrusted them to do. They have jeopardized our national security, marred our international reputation and crippled our institutions. One need only look to the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina, the corruption of our Department of Justice, the sullied state of our Department of Veteran Affairs, the American-led nepotism at the World Bank, the disunity at the Department of State and the dereliction of our former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (whose many appointees still muddle up our Defense Department).

The Army - an institution that I served in for more than 17 years until Sept. 11, 2007 - has bred leaders responsible for countless incidents of dishonor and ineptitude: leaders who led the Iraqi war campaign into a situation that is now at the brink of regional chaos; leaders who contrived and condoned the horrific circumstances of Abu Ghraib; leaders who covered-up Ranger Pat Tillman's tragic death and had the audacity to turn it into a failed "wag-the-dog" event; leaders who neglected to provide us, those who have done the fighting day-to-day for the past six years, with proper medical care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Fort Benning, Fort Carson and VA centers all across the country; leaders who have allowed our units to degrade in combat readiness - particularly the over-extended National Guard, which is at 30 percent equipping strength.

In a recent article written by Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, who I had the great privilege of serving under in Iraq, the onus of failure was placed on the incompetence of our general officer corps. While this is certainly true, the cause of our woes is really systemic in nature. For decades, the U.S. military has increasingly been less scrutinous of its entrance and promotion selection criteria. Because fewer Americans are willing to serve their nation, enlistment and retention bonuses are at all-time highs - and far less qualified and competent people are entering and remaining in the ranks.

More importantly, however, is the matter of complacency. Day-to-day, leaders are not fighting the good fight. All but a few succumb to accepting the bureaucratic status quo which in peacetime and in short Military Operations Other Than War is tolerable but in a protracted limited war is disastrous. In incident after incident, the crumb trail ultimately leads back to leadership that neglected to speak up and pursue the hard right versus the easy wrong.

How is it that no senior officer has served any jail time for Abu Ghraib? Where is the accountability for the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) concerning the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Katrina? Speaking of the USACE, who has been held accountable for the countless Iraqi contract awards to corrupt American companies? How is it that the officers responsible for lying about Tillman's death were only given notional reprimands? Why has no American officer been held accountable for hundreds of thousands of missing weapons and equipment in Iraq?

It's going to take the very strongest of our leaders, our presidential candidates, our political parties, our military, our U.S. agency leaders and us, the American people to wake up and smell the looming global Islamic jihad and most importantly, the crisis of complacency.

Luis Carlos Montalván is an alumnus and former Army captain.