The Pentagon is a wee bit angry at the White House. I mean, war is literally their job, and the White House has been talking about and doing war stuff without them. They don’t feel included.

“There’s a level of dissatisfaction among the uniformed military that I’ve never seen in my time here,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman [mc_name name=’Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000303′ ] in an interview. “For some of us who are a little older, let’s go back and read the Pentagon Papers — what the administration is doing is the kind of incrementalism that defined much of the Vietnam conflict.”

The Arizona Republican is known as a fierce critic of President Obama’s foreign policy, but his complaints were echoed by an unlikely source: [mc_name name=’Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’S000510′ ], the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

“Frustration among the uniformed service is real,” the Washington Democrat said, adding that the administration “does keep things in the White House and has not been more inclusive in the decision-making process.”

This isn’t just about hurt feelings, though. This is a national and international risk. You have guys who spend all day, every day, planning for these kinds of global disputes and you aren’t consulting them? The actual professionals who plan out the strategies necessary to complete military operations are not being included in the discussion at all. This is about more than partisanship – I’m not just saying this because the Left are increasingly antiwar trolls who have no respect for the military or what it takes to operate one – it’s about having a pretty good idea of what you’re doing when other people’s lives are at stake.

This is the problem. The government we are currently operating under is filled with academics with little-to-no practical experience. They’re doing a great job of mucking things up a bit, though!