“If the courage of young men and women in battle truly does depend on the nature and quality of our civic society, we should be very worried. We should expect to see a sickness spreading from our public life and into the hearts of the men and women who continue to risk their lives on behalf of a distracted nation. And when we look closely, that is exactly what we see.” The excellent Phil Klay: Two Decades of War Have Eroded the Morale of America’s Troops. “After nearly 17 years of war, service members have seen plenty of patriotic displays but little public debate about why they’re fighting.”

+ And a good companion piece from Klay in the NYT: The Warrior at the Mall.