One of the Marine Corps principles of leadership is to accept responsibility for your actions.  In most Western cultures, those who fail spectacularly then resign.  Traditional Japanese military culture demanded that those who failed to commit suicide out of shame and honor.

In modern Democrat party political culture, there is no true individual responsibility for one's own actions, either in public or private life.  Everything that goes wrong is either someone else's fault or society's fault.  It's a victimology cult.  A hollow, ritualistic statement of "the buck stops here" is then usually accompanied by the non sequitur of blaming someone else.  This is what President Biden did yet again in recent days.

Not long ago, the U.S. military was the one branch of government that worked because of its culture of accountability.  There isn't accountability in the civilian branches because of civil service rules and public employee unions.  President Obama began the aggressive politicization of flag officers, dismissing those who disagreed with his policies and promoting leftists.

 Now Secretary Austin and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Milley aim to purge the entire officer corps and enlisted ranks of anyone who isn't woke.  The results of their policies are on parade in Afghanistan.

A new and massive failure has entered the American Pantheon of Military Fiascos: "The Biden Blunder," "The Kabul Katastrophe," or "Stan Ran '21," take your pick.  It joins others in the Hall of Shame:

• The Battle of Brooklyn, 1776
• Custer's Last Stand, 1876
• Pearl Harbor, 1941
• Bataan-Corregidor, 1941-42
• The Yalu River, 1950
• Saigon, 1975
• 9-11, 2001

If you think anyone will be held to account over this utter Afghan debacle, consider this: In 1999, Amendment #388 to the Defense appropriations bill passed the U.S. Senate (described on page S5891 of the Congressional Record — Senate for May 25, 1999).  The purpose of this amendment was to posthumously restore the rank and promote both Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short, the top Navy and Army Commanders at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.  (In 1942, Kimmel had been stripped of two of his four stars and forced into retirement for his culpability, and Short was reduced in rank from lieutenant general to major general and forced to retire.)  Co-sponsor of this Roth/Biden Resolution: Senator Joe Biden (D- Del.).  In the end, infamy paid no price.

Mr. Locke was a tank platoon leader in the Marines, 1970–74.  In 1972 he donated his five M-48 tanks to the South Vietnamese Army and then served as guard officer, Marine Barracks, Pearl Harbor.

Image: newsonline via Flickr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).

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