Sa'd Al-Din Ibrahim Quotes
Only 350,000 Serve in the Military, While the Internal Security Police Recently Hit the One-Million Mark
Sa'd Al-Din Ibrahim, Egyptian Sociologist & Human Rights Activist, Chairman, Ibn Khaldun Center in Cairo, Op Ed, Lebanese Daily Star, June 16, 2006
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The French and English, with larger numbers and more experienced troops and officers, wanted the American units to come under the command or their officers and be integrated into the allied army. However Wilson established the tradition that American troops fighting abroad most always fight as an American Army under American Command. Although resented then and into the 21st century by America’s allies who are expected to fight under American command, it is a tradition that no American major politician has seriously challenged since then.
Washington, although the presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention, said almost nothing for such was the respect for him that he cou;d sway almost any issue. But the absurdity of limiting the size of the American Army was too much for him, and his clever way of phrasing his concern ended discussion of that idea without any ill feelings.
If a military loses a war, it has shown to be insufficient quality; if it wins, the evaluation is good. With all the talk about what makes for an effective and quality military, as the General states, it is war that is the final arbitrator. So ideally we never want to really know how good our military is.
