That the US military is the most trusted organization in America after losing one war after another against developing countries with Bronze Age technology simply astonishes me.
Most sensible people realize that the outcome of campaigns is a political decision, not a military one. The US military generally wins every battle they are in but they don't get to choose how to execute a campaign.
For the military, the most critical forms of trust are "don't attempt to coerce or overthrow our government", and "credibly wage war against our enemies if and when called upon to do so".
Being able to nation-build in Afghanistan, under a delusional do-gooder mandate, is not important. For as long as their orders were (in effect) "pretend it's possible", they more-or-less tried.
Whereas only a commander in chief who isn’t from a military background can say “no, we lost this one, time to take the L and pull out”.
But that’s good I guess. A military that tries its best to finish the mission and a commander answerable to the people.
> In each survey, we asked respondents about their levels of confidence in a host of American institutions, as well as their personal policy preferences, their views on the direction of the country, their support for particular democratic norms, their use of social and traditional media, and a wide range of other questions.