Thread by @oef1314

The Slow Retreat & Inevitable Establishment Of American Foreign Legion (AFL)

This is a less enthusiastic thread…one I don’t post lightly, but is the truth as I see it. The content is pessimistic in nature, but I refuse to sugarcoat the situation any longer. I’ll leave you with the following excerpt from Patrick Henry’s, Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.

“Mr. President,it is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth,& listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men,engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty?…

Are we disposed to be of the number of those who,having eyes,see not, & having ears,hear not,the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part,whatever anguish of spirit it may cost,I am willing to know the whole truth;to know the worst,& to provide for it”

1/As an alleged “war weary” US takes stock of its withdraw from Afghanistan, & possibly similar situations at the periphery of its empire, many are left w/feelings of wanting to withdraw from the world into isolation, or double down & reengage in our wars to maintain US hegemony.

2/While isolation is attractive, our place in the world & our domestic situation simply will not allow it, especially not our mediocre “elite leadership” giving up that power.

3/The US needs troops stationed at the periphery if we want to maintain our standard of living & global faith in our reserve currency.

4/Discussions of 5th Gen War & prepping to fight China in the SCS +Russian aggression, etc. dominate thinking of many serious & talented Americans. While these situations should be at the forefront of our minds,I can’t help but think we have been putting the cart before the horse

5/So, is it more likely we see WW3, or will DC continue the status quo & attempt to secure resources via proxy? The Iraqi & Afghan armies have shown our proxy forces can’t be relied upon to enforce US interests. W/no appetite to engage in similar wars,an AFL makes political sense

6/Until politicians /policy makers start taking seriously the need to harden our infrastructure, use analog backups, curtail 🇨🇳 influence in our universities, think tanks & STEM jobs…

7/…re-industrialize, expand shipbuilding, pharmaceuticals, rare earth refinement, nat sec sensitive areas & harden private industry intellectual property against espionage, I can’t take 5GW seriously. Securing 3rd world (periphery)resources should b the priority,& that takes men

8/In my unprofessional opinion, we have already lost, or are so far behind we risk not catching up, & BRI is attempting to strategically place itself between the US & strategic resources/chokepoints worldwide. Will financiers/politicians etc, give up $$ to change the status quo?

9/The US is already too late & for the next 5-10 yrs, I think we will see a lack of imagination strategically concerning our top politicians & military brass. And deep pocketed elites will fight to keep their continuous enriching arrangements.

10/The proverbial genie is out of the bottle, Pandora’s box is wide open, & these issues will not go away quietly w/political cycle changes. The military has officially become”politicized”, & the only way back is paid in blood.

11/Very intelligent/connected & well to do tweeters & ppl simply shrug their shoulders, chalk up the state of our union as “just the way thing work” & profit off the mess. Not a finger raised to change things, just inform u all w/hot takes becuz they are insiders themselves.

12/Other idiots who think it’s a good idea to now support the Taliban while we get played by 🇨🇳& all the surrounding countries are hard to take seriously. While our“woke”push may eventually fade away,the long term damage from this military/societal experiment have yet to play out

13/Numerous idiots on twitter, in the MSM, & every walk of life, w/ no skin in the game, & who are so hopelessly unaware of history & common sense, cheer women in combat units, trans soldiers breaking down barriers, & “white rage” being addressed.🤦‍♂️

14/They are all the problem. They vote w/their hearts, ignorance & wallets while attempting to make in their image how the world should be, but never consider hard learned lessons & common sense practiced over a millennia.

15/These factors are the cause of our slow retreat. A retreat which will continue for another generation until our soft & obese nation calls in every favor, uses every hard fought advantage handed to them by our forefathers, & squanders it all away for a few bucks in the end.

16/Which brings me to an important point. W/the US military struggling to recruit from the general population, politicized decision making discouraging potential recruits from joining,& a weak, incompetent, & politicized/corporatized officer corps, we will be left w/ few options.

17/So, what is it that will lead the US to form its own Foreign Legion?

18/Politicians are too scared to fully outsource our military to defense contractors. Some appearance of control needs to be maintained. But how do we waste ppl & plug manpower holes in the process of managing our empire? Well, waste foreigners…

19/Another reason..our shrinking military…

https://twitter.com/oef1314/status/1232096609221120002

20/Another reason: Ineligible citizens (too high standards?) Obesity, criminal records, drug use, no need or calling to join, the military viewed as a bastion for poor ppl/those w/ no other choice, or just no propensity for any kind of public service.

21/The inevitable choice becomes recruiting foreigners to enforce policy the citizenry doesn’t have an appetite for.The short term political expediency is an easy choice.Look at the short term outrage of the troops killed during the Afghan evac. It’s not politically palatable.

22/Foreigners losing their lives enforcing US policy is easily rationalized away by both sides of the aisle. “It’s what they signed up for…”

23/This also alleviates the problems seen w/ the defense contractors like Blackwater. An AFL keeps the military in charge of combat ops & under the UCMJ, but extinguishes the political threat of Americans never coming home.

24/An apathetic US citizenry can continue to zone out on TicTok, reality television & whatever new social media platform comes to the forefront. It’s pathetic that a country of 320M can’t man it’s military w/enough volunteers to enforce its empire or interests,but here we are…

25/I do not like the idea of an American Foreign Legion, but I believe it’s inevitable considering the circumstances.

26/I believe we will see it in the form of what exists with our allies. It could be similar to the British Gurkha Regiment,or the French Foreign Legion. I think we will eventually see a Division size element in our Army,& I could see our current SFAB brigades be a building block.

26/A foreign legion or something similar was used by many countries/empires. The Romans are a prime example w/the Auxilia. Non-citizens attached to the Roman Army.

27/Watch out for this development in the coming decade. We will have little choice due to the issues I have laid out. The fact that this has yet to be addressed or considered publicly leads me to believe it will happen quickly,& Americans will be too busy to even really notice.

28/This development will be yet another bandaid in an attempt to shore up our weak home front. It may be successful for a time, but in the end, it’s only a sign of a weak & ineffective empire on the brink.

29/To be clear, I do not like these potential developments, & I know I am a small & niche account that repetitively screams into the void. I don’t offer the sexiest takes on the latest & greatest geopolitical happenings, nor do I muse about how I will make your life better.

30/I offer what I see as obvious, which is clearly overlooked by most in order to talk the latest tech, politics or military institutional changes.

31/I’ve complained about the politicization of our Officer corps for years, but Biden’s botched withdrawal & the shit show that followed have brought it to the forefront.

https://twitter.com/oef1314/status/1207353722508054528

32/I’ve complained about our tech obsession vs analog/boots on the ground. Our 2 lost colonial expeditions should have shown us to be lacking in the manpower department. Instead that issue is ignored.

https://twitter.com/oef1314/status/1223398664602890240

33/I’ve complained about our shrinking military, which will become worse due to recruiting problems & I complained abt spending the budget on fancy gizmos that promise bloodless wars & victory. We have seen neither in my lifetime.

34/I’ve complained about private military contractors & their shortcomings, which I believe will attempt to be papered over by an American Foreign Legion.

https://twitter.com/oef1314/status/1342325553513299969

35/The above bitching on my part may seem like glaringly obvious takes, or easily dismissed nonsense from someone w/no stars on my uniform, but either way, the above issues will continue to keep the US from the one thing it needs the most…which is victory.

36/Other ppl will give you hope about the future of the US. I hope they are right. But hope is not a strategy, & unfortunately, I see no Strategy on the horizon. I see an amazing country being torn apart & weakened for individual greed.

37/Race, gender, vax vs unvaxxed, etc. all used to enrich the very few & satisfy a sociopathic inclination.

38/Where all this goes from here is unclear to me. How we can set things right again beyond some cataclysmic failure remains to be seen.

39/ I don’t believe it will be a few patriotic Americans that save the day this time, and like many Americans, I’m fearful of an uncertain future for my kids. Maybe it will be those foreigners in the legions we will take for granted or despise that set things right again…

/end