Apr 20, 2021
The Strategic Importance of Leaving Afghanistan
Photograph Source: Gustavo Montes de Oca – CC BY 2.0
Sixty years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower articulated his concern about the ability of his presidential successors to control the military. Several weeks before his Farewell Address, he gathered his senior advisers in the Oval Office of the White House and mused: “God help this country when someone sits in this chair who doesn’t know the military as well as I do.” By and large, the successors to Eisenhower have lacked military experience; they have been deferential to the military and have recklessly used military force to bolster their credentials. This has been a key factor in the expanded power of the military establishment over foreign policy, national security policy, and the intelligence community.
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