Another Military Appreciation Day has come and gone. Everything about the Fourth of July has been tainted by military idolatry—including worship services on the Sunday before the holiday. Patriotism is now equated with admiration for the military. And the highest form of patriotism is to kill or be killed “in defense of our freedoms.” The image and reputation of the military is at an all-time high.
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) senior fellow Michael Rubin is concerned about the image of the military. In his recent article “Greed, Not Just Politics, Is Corrupting the Image of the Military,” he criticizes former U.S. generals for endorsing “usually in exchange for generous donations or honoraria,” the Mujahedin al Khalq Organization, or MEK, which he calls “a cultlike group of Iranian exiles complicit in past terrorism against Americans.” Generals “taking money from the MEK corrupts the reputation of the U.S. military.”
If retired military officers collecting honoraria for their endorsements was the only thing wrong with the U.S. military, then it might be an otherwise stellar institution.
Just what is the military’s image and reputation? Since Rubin never tells us, I guess I will have to:
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