" The result is that American military and intelligence operatives are at times virtually indistinguishable from each other as they carry out classified operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. Some members of Congress have complained that this new way of war allows for scant debate about the scope and scale of military operations. In fact, the American spy and military agencies operate in such secrecy now that it is often hard to come by specific information about the American role in major missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and now Libya and Yemen. "

" The most recent effort was organized by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a group of business, nonprofit and foreign policy leaders. The group sent a half-dozen retired admirals and generals to Capitol Hill last week to visit the offices of House and Senate members who serve on the Appropriations and foreign policy committees. "

" The Mullen Doctrine accepts that every day for the foreseeable future, U.S. military forces will shoot at, or will be shot at, by somebody somewhere in the world. Given this seemingly permanent state of war, Mullen says that politicians, soldiers, and the public will need to engage in an open-ended discussion that will constantly adjust how the country employs its military forces. Mullen assumes that the public now accepts that low-level warfare is an enduring fact of life. If he is wrong about this, the Powell Doctrine could rise from the grave. "

vague statement moving away from strict Powell Doctrine

" In a careful recalibration of well-known principles set forth years ago by a predecessor, Gen. Colin L. Powell, Admiral Mullen said the military “must not try to use force only in an overwhelming capacity, but in the proper capacity, and in a precise and principled manner.” "

" McCain, a Vietnam War-era Navy pilot, dismissed suggestions by U.S. commanders that enforcing such a zone would be costly and complicated.

" "I love the military," he told the Atlantic Council, a policy institute, on Tuesday. "But they always seem to find reasons why you can't do something rather than why you can." "

" Gates and top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen showed little enthusiasm for a possible no-fly zone in Libya or other armed intervention in public remarks over the past two days, saying it would be dangerous, complex and politically risky. "

" On Tuesday, Mullen said shutting down Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's air force would be "extraordinarily complex" while Gates asked whether it made sense for the United States to launch military action "in another country in the Middle East." "

" The Pentagon is making it clear it does not want war, even as senators passed a resolution urging the UN to act on setting up a no-fly zone.

" A statement on Wednesday by Defence Secretary Robert Gates illustrated the administration's effort to rein in "loose talk" about military options to force Gaddafi from power. It was an acknowledgement that, short of an unlikely military offensive by a US-led coalition, the options for international action to stem the violence are highly limited.

" "Let's just call a spade a spade: A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses," Gates told a congressional panel. The Pentagon could get the job done if ordered by the president, he said, but he noted that an attack would require more air power than a single US aircraft carrier, which typically carries about 75 planes. "It is a big operation in a big country," Gates said. "

" But by early Saturday, the military made it clear there would be limits to further dissent as soldiers and plainclothes security officers moved into the square, beating protesters and tearing down their tents, witnesses said. "

" Top Defense Department officials and other leaders began talking quietly last year about a “gap” or “split” between the military and the general population. But in recent weeks, they’ve been expressing those concerns more often and more boldly. "

" "They don't really need these schools," said Michael Desch, a political science professor at Notre Dame and an ROTC expert. "It would be symbolic in terms of having the Ivies and other elite schools sort of come back in the fold." "

commenter: "I don't really considering it retiring when you leave on a Friday and are sitting at the same desk on Monday with a slightly different colored badge, and I refuse to pretend that this is anything but a farce. If anything, you can tell who the real slugs are because they are the ones that don't come back as contractors. "

" From 2004 through 2008, 80 percent of retiring three- and four-star officers went to work as consultants or defense executives, according to the Globe analysis. That compares with less than 50 percent who followed that path a decade earlier, from 1994 to 1998. "

" Slowly over the past five years evidence has accumulated that our military leaders have grown so powerful that they can — and increasing do — challenge the nation’s civilian leaders for control of foreign policy (rather than jointly set it, as they have since WWII). "

" The first is, perhaps, a bad policy decision. The second is a bad moral and legal decision. Military professionals do absolutely have a duty to dissent against the latter, but while they may raise objections through the chain of command, they have a duty to obey the former. "

" Milburn’s second proposition elevates the military to a fourth branch of government with veto power over the actions of the other three. ... Unlike the other branches of government, there are no means to override the veto of Milburn’s morally autonomous officers. "

" If attempted by more than one officer, or as the product of discussion, disobedience becomes conspiracy and revolt, not exactly moral by any stretch of the imagination. Indeed, put into practice, what Milburn proposes would not only unravel the good order and discipline of the armed forces, but destroy all trust between the military and its bosses -- elected and appointed civilian leaders -- and its client: the American people. "

" An important step in the evolution of an insurgency comes when it steps out of the shadows. When its members assert their beliefs in public — going from assertion of special circumstances to statement of specific rights. That’s necessary for it to bid for the widespread support needed to overturn the existing political regime. With the Milburn article in JFQ we may have passed that milestone. After that come alliances with powerful elements, and the compromises necessary for eventual victory. And another nail hammered into the Constitution’s coffin. "

" Just as civilian leaders have an obligation to challenge military leaders if the latter appear to be pursuing a strategy that undermines policy, military leaders are committed to challenge their civilian masters if the policy appears to be unconstitutional, immoral, or otherwise detrimental to the institution. Civilian control of the military does not obviate this obligation and should not be viewed simply as a unilateral and hierarchical relationship with clear boundaries. This is especially important now in this era of complex operations that blur the boundaries between military strategy and policy."

Gates: "Even after 9/11, in the absence of a draft, for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do. In fact, with each passing decade fewer and fewer Americans know someone with military experience in their family or social circle. "

" In recent years there has been a tendency for like-minded think tanks and military officers to jointly pursue policy objectives, sometimes in direct conflict with the stated preferences of the president and his advisers. According to some observers, this trend raises questions about the appropriate role of both military officers, who are part of a chain of command, and think tanks, which present themselves as “non-partisan” appraisers of public policy. "

"Militia rhetoric is being heard widely once more, often from a second generation of ideologues, and conspiracy theories are being energetically revived or invented anew. "Paper terrorism" — the use of property liens, bogus legal documents and "citizens' grand juries" to attack enemies and, sometimes, reap illegal fortunes — is again proliferating, to the point where the government has set up special efforts to rein in so-called "tax defiers" and to track threats against judges. What's more, Patriot fears about the government are being amplified by a loud new group of ostensibly mainstream media commentators and politicians."

" Although Cardwell welcomes all concerned citizens to his meetings, the Oath Keepers' main message targets military and public safety personnel, active and inactive. It reminds them that they swore allegiance to the Constitution, not to politicians or bureaucrats. As such, they have the right to refuse orders they deem unlawful. "

"If you, the American people, are forced to once again fight for your liberty in another American Revolution, you will not be alone. We will stand with you. There is at this time a debate within the ranks of the military regarding their oath. Some mistakenly believe they must follow any order the President issues. But you can rest assured that many others in the military do understand that their loyalty is to the Constitution, and understand what that means."

"When Barack Obama moved into the Oval Office in January, he inherited a military not just drained by a two-front war overseas but fighting a third battle on the home front, a subtle civil war over its own soul. On one side are the majority of military personnel, professionals who regardless of their faith or lack thereof simply want to get their jobs done; on the other is a small but powerful movement of Christian soldiers concentrated in the officer corps."

"Although President Obama addressed the Muslim world this month in an attempt to undo the Bush administration's legacy of militant Christian rhetoric that often antagonized Muslim countries, several recent stories have framed the issue as a wider problem of an evangelical military culture that sees spreading Christianity as part of its mission."

"U.S. Army Chaplains serve both God and country by bringing their unique gifts with which they are endowed by God, to the Soldiers of our nation in the broad, challenging, diverse, and ever changing environment of the Army. ... Qualified and sent by their religious bodies, trained by the U.S. Army, and led by the God that they serve, Army Chaplains are expected to exercise dynamic and influential spiritual leadership, without violating their faith or conscience. Army Chaplains are the 'soul and conscience' of our nation's Army."

"But there is a definite edge in his voice, an undercurrent of bitterness, when he talks about the tiny percentage of the American population that is shouldering the burden of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."