General Eikenberry on the unforeseen consequences of the all-volunteer force

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I've been critical in the past of
Amb./Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Karl Eikenberry, so it
is a pleasure to report that he has a thoughtful article, "Reassessing the All-Volunteer Force," in the Winter 2013 issue of the Washington Quarterly. He argues that oversight of the military by
both the Congress and the media has diminished. "Indeed, nearly abject
congressional deference to the military has become all too common."

I think he is right. I hope we will see
a re-assertion of congressional interest and prerogatives in the coming years.

The more I think about it, it seems to
me that the AVF has been a tactical success and a strategic failure, in that it
detached the American people from their wars. And so we do not wage them as
well as we should.