Search

This response to Coletta's "Courage in the Service of Virtue: The Case of General Shinseki's Testimony before the Iraq War" argues that too much significance is attributed to Shinseki's remarks. The larger question is whether military leaders should speak up when their civilian leadership's plan is grossly inadequate. Second, the response considers questions about the middle levels of power. The authors suggest that the principal-agent argument is Shinseki's defense and the ultimate principals are the American public. Third, a table is offered as a means of comparing and contrasting the Huntington-Janowitz positions with new theoretical focuses. Fourth, the conclusion suggests that concerns touched on in the tables (the obligation to speak up, the public space, the implications of economic development, and the changing nature of warfare) overshadow the Shinseki issue and that social action theory and type construction methodology are of service in addressing civil-military relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A synopsis of the state of affairs of the Vietnam veterans lobby illustrates that veterans' interest-group activity is filled with conflict. First, we acknowledge the efforts of the veterans' community before Vietnam. Second, we summarize the activism that developed during the Vietnam decade, noting the conflict between the World War II/Korea veterans and the Vietnam "Homecomers." That clash provided the rationale for two bureaucratic "wars" over control of veterans' policy, programs, budgets, and the client base of Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans: one involving the (then) Veterans Administration (VA) and Health, Education, and Welfare over veterans' educational programs, the other involving the VA and Department of Labor over veteran outreach centers. We summarize two salient issues: Agent Orange and small-business opportunities. Finally, we illustrate that the difficulties confronted by the Vietnam generation also confront the Gulf Was/Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. We conclude with comments about the possible future of the veterans as an interest group and the Department of Veterans Affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presented here is a review of the twenty-four articles, research notes, or book reviews pertaining to veterans that have appeared in our journal since its inception in 1974. For the purposes of discussion, the articles are divided into a thematic scheme. Following each thematic section, the authors pose a number of potential research projects that, in their opinion, would advance research on veterans' issues and may be of interest to our members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]