I have heard this statement or should I say question asked many times….if they see something wrong why do they not speak up?

For one, they serve at the discretion of the president and most like their jobs so they smile and do what they are told….ever noticed that the generals that make the news are all retired before they speak up?

There is a big reason why….read on……

Blindspots mean no truth-telling until after retirement.

The United States is now engaged in perpetual war with victory nowhere in sight.  Iraq is chaotic and scarred. So, too, is Libya. Syria barely exists. After 15 years, “progress” in Afghanistan has proven eminently reversible as efforts to rollback recent Taliban gains continue to falter. The Islamic State may be fracturing, but its various franchises are finding new and horrifying ways to replicate themselves and lash out. Having spent trillions of dollars on war with such sorry results, it’s a wonder that key figures in the U.S. military or officials in any other part of America’s colossal national security state and the military-industrial complex (“the Complex” for short) haven’t spoken out forcefully and critically about the disasters on their watch.

Source: Why the Military Brass Can’t Face the Colossal Failure of Perpetual War | Alternet

What about military personnel?

When I was serving a soldier could not participate in any political campaign while in uniform….that included protests or rallies……

I’ve often wondered, can people who have spent their lives working in an institution, particularly in the military or some other part of the national security state, retire and suddenly see that same institution in a different and far more negative light?  Once outside, they become, in essence, critics of […]

Source: Why It’s So Hard for Members of the Military to Speak Out – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

A military person cannot be seen as showing favoritism for one side or the other while on active duty…..a soldier has a duty no matter the political leanings to carry out the orders of his commanders……any questioning of that authority will get them subject to punishment under the UCMJ…..

What they do in the voting booth is another matter……between him and his conscience…..