Book Review by Joe Brosius

                                 Breach of Trust

  How Americans Failed their Soldiers and Their Country

                                By Andrew J. Bacevich

Metropolitan Books Henry Holt & Company, NY

Copyright 2013 by Andrew J. Bacevich   196 pages + footnotes

     Colonel Bacevich has just blared reveille: Wake up Americans – if you do not take part in national service, America will go down the same path as other failed empires. This short, easy to read and understand call to duty not only describes the danger America faces as Bacevich sees it, but offers the history behind it and his solutions.

     Bacevich summarizes his argument thusly –“The all-volunteer force is not a blessing. It has become blight.” The blight is from citizens not participating in what their government does in their names.

     The all-volunteer force began when Nixon ended the draft during the American war on Vietnam. Since the draft has ended, our government has actually increased the number of overseas military adventures. Bacevich deftly gives a short American military history of the past 40 years

     Bacevich does make a strong case for national service. It would restore some power back to the people. Yet with the draft opposed by the Army, by politicians and by the American public, a national service would be difficult to institute. If there was a draft would there be no more wars like Vietnams or Iraq? Bacevich argues that these would be less likely since all Americans would have ‘skin in the game’.

     Having read all of his books I’ve been expecting this one since Colonel Bacevich does have a strong sense of duty. Bacevich foresees “impending bankruptcy, both moral and financial” if Americans fail to regain control of the use of their military. Bacevich deploys heavy firepower against the pundits on the left and the right who support America’s military adventures while having no ‘skin in the game’.

     From praise to shame, from Smedley Butler to Bush and Obama, Bacevich has given the American people a history lesson and a literary spanking. While I agree with his argument, I doubt the American citizenry will heed his call for any sort of national service, military or civilian, and step up to save their republic. As the song says – The hour is getting late.

 http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/alphabetical/bacevich/

 http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-J.-Bacevich/e/B003AQW7VG

 http://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm