When It Rains, It Pours...

aspen
Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:14:55 +0000

From my observation point, not only has the number of parents who do not want their sons/daughters to serve in our armed forces grown, there is growing objection to any one’s son/daughter volunteering to serve. The welling-intended, but misguided anti-military supporters not only don’t want their kids in combat, they don’t want any U.S. troops in combat.

I think their motivation is a genuine belief that most of the U.S.'s military engagements of the last 50 years were unnecessary and ill-advised. They believe that a minimal, defensive capable-only US military force will keep our country from entering most, if not all, future military conflicts by the U.S…

I disagree with their logic but I feel that I have been fighting a losing battle against the media, educational and religious groups that subscribe to what I call the "We’re sorry America’s been a self-serving bully and we just need to sit down and talk it over’ approach to global diplomacy. These groups have succeeded by constantly promoting the admittedly significant costs/negatives of our country’s military activities while ignoring or minimizing the benefits derived. I doubt they feel our military forces provide much deterrence to potentially aggressive countries. Counter arguments to this philosophy have pretty much been kept out of our schools’ history/civics books and portrayed by the media as government propaganda and war-monger rantings.

Hope I’m wrong, but I believe that, ironically, this passivist approach to our country’s military forces will likely result in far more military aggression by competing nations seeking hegemony not harmony. It will also result in a continued erosion of our country’s global status.