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IPFS News Link • Military

Absurdity and the Army: The myth of 'readiness' in the corona-age

• https://responsiblestatecraft.org, by Danny Sjurse

To wit, Americans awoke on Thursday to this report in the nation's "paper of record" — "The Army earlier this week ordered a halt to most training, exercises and nonessential activities that require troops to be in close contact…but abruptly reversed itself. …"

On a certain level, the rescinded order made sense. After all, military decisions flow downward. Atop that hierarchy sits the commander-in-chief, who, just days ago, hinted at rapidly curtailed social distancing policies, a reopened economy, and visions of "packed churches" on Easter Sunday. That's two odd weeks from now.

Still, in the wake of the Army's volte-face, word was, a sort of befuddlement ensued — in the ranks, and among commanders. Yet I couldn't help but think: vacillation, conflicting leadership priorities, uncertainty (plus cynicism) in the ranks, and confusion up and down the chain-of-command — what else is new? Sardonicism aside, my sympathy lay, partly, with the common soldiers and junior officers — many still-serving personal friends — caught up in the whole fiasco.

The decision was absurd; that much seems certain. The famed — and ever-so corona-relevant — philosopher, Albert Camus, defined the contours of absurdism in his 1942 classic, "The Myth of Sisyphus." Absurdity: there's no term more fitting for such Army decision-making in the face of increasingly stark facts.


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