In this essay for The Free Press, Elliot Ackerman examines the intense media coverage surrounding conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during the war with Iran and argues that the hardships facing American service members should not become partisan political ammunition.
Life Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln
After more than 260 days at sea and weeks of sustained combat operations, reports of suicide attempts aboard the aircraft carrier have raised concerns about the strain facing its crew. Ackerman places those conditions within the broader realities of military service and extended deployments.
Military Suicide and the Cost of Service
Drawing on his own 2006 deployment aboard the USS Iwo Jima, when a sailor died by suicide shortly before returning home, Ackerman argues that suicide and psychological strain have affected service members and veterans across multiple wars and presidential administrations.
War, Politics, and Media Coverage
Ackerman challenges attempts to portray the crisis aboard the Abraham Lincoln as unique to the current war with Iran. He argues that using an individual sailor's personal crisis as political ammunition obscures a longstanding problem within America's all-volunteer military.
Where Criticism of the Iran War Belongs
Ackerman also identifies legitimate criticisms of U.S. strategy, including the failure to achieve regime change, Iran's disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, pressure on American munitions stocks, and the absence of a clear path toward ending the conflict.
Read the Original Article
This essay originally appeared in The Free Press.
Read “The Cynical Coverage of Conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln” at The Free Press →