America's weakness

I found the following passage from pp. 338-339 of George Freidman's America's Secret War of particular relevance:

"Our own virtues are substantial,. Our warriors are well armed and well trained. The can endure hardship. Americans have always been underestimated by their enemies, from Valley Forge to Corregidor and Khe Sanh. American soldiers fight well - and, we will assert, as humanely as war permits. The notion that Americans cannot withstand hardship, practice patience, or face death is a myth without historical basis. The American people elected Richard Nixon and defeated George McGovern, the peace candidate. It is not the American people who cannot endure war, but the America elite.

The weakness of the U.S. is not our soldiers, nor their numbers, but the vast distance that separates American leaders from those who fight. From government officials to media moguls to finance power brokers, few members of the leadership class have children who are at war. To them, the soldiers are alien, people they have never met and don't understand. When the children of the leaders stay home, the leaders think about war in unfortunate ways. As the most powerful nation in the world, we will be fighting many wars. A ruling class that sends the children of others to fight, but not their own, cannot sustain its power very long."