Senior Pentagon Officials Say National Security Should Be Achieved Through Peaceful Means — At Least That’s What I Think They Said

I don’t know how excited to get about the podcast contained in this article – mostly because it’s so riddled in military double-speak that it’s practically incomprehensible. But here’s a story that, I believe, communicates that two extremely highly placed Pentagon officials – both Special Assistants to the Chairman for Strategy to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, are recommending a new path to national security.

They are claiming, I want to believe, that in the future, security will be attained less by guns and bombs than by promoting things like education and healthcare. It seems to recognize that the value of force, control, and domination – if it ever actually did exist – is now overshadowed by being a visible and demonstrable force for good, peace, sustainability, and harmony.  I hope listeners will try to make sense of it and tell me if I’ve gotten the gist.  This is certainly good news if I’ve gotten it right.

For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have lasted two minutes in this world of the Pentagon.  When I speak, I need to say something. I lack the patience – or maybe just the talent with language – to dance around an issue for 10 minutes without actually making a point.