Sacred Soldier

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and military veteran examines both the realities of our military and the worshipful attitude of Americans toward it. How can our nation stop fighting needless wars, if we keep worshiping the warriors? Why do presidents so easily fool us by using “support the troops” to justify war? Is “Thank you for your service” merely meaningless, or a meaningful sign of a dangerous modern idolatry? Are today’s soldiers truly defending our freedom, or too often suppressing the freedom of other peoples? If our military is so powerful, why has it not definitively won a major war since 1945?