Commentary: Endless wars are corrupting our military and distracting the U.S. from bigger global threats

Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer was fired last month, a consequence of President Donald Trump's foolish decision to pardon three servicemen who were either convicted of or awaiting trial for crimes committed in combat. The president has been rightly excoriated for these pardons, which dishonor the U.S. military and may degrade good order and discipline. But amid this uproar, Americans should note the bigger lesson: Endless wars, especially endless counterinsurgency or counterterrorism wars, slowly chip away at both a military's ethics and its critical war-fighting