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Originally Posted by Mike Brewer  Thanks for posting this. It's something everyone should read. However, I wanted to throw out something for you to consider.
You mentioned our "large and organized" military. Consider for a moment that we have about 1,000,000 men and women in uniform serving on active duty. We have, as a nation, over 300,000,000 citizens. In other words, our "large" military is made up of roughly 1/3 of 1 percent (0.33% for you math geeks out there) of our nation. To put it another way, each man or woman in uniform has the burden of protecting roughly 300 Americans all by themselves. That ratio is staggering. Imagine for a second that you were put into a position where 300 people literally depended on every action you take for their lives and for their freedoms. Now, statistically, about 200 of those 300 people are mad at you for doing what you're doing to keep them safe. They protest against you whenever they can, and they smear your bosses at every turn. When's the last time you sat in a room with even 30 people and got on the wrong side of 20 of them? Now imagine how those soldiers must feel. 300 people sitting comfortably at home, literally doing nothing - NOTHING - to defend their own freedoms. It's all on their head, and that's true for every single person brave enough to put on a uniform.
Heavy load to be carried by roughly a third of a single percent of our citizens.
I think maybe all of them deserves our undying respect, loyalty, and gratitude, no matter how we feel about the policies they're working under... |
Good point on bringing up percentages, Mike.
I spoke with a buddy of mine whose sharp as a whip and just a good all round guy. We talked about the war, military service and what not. One of his biggest qualms against the military was that the social elite (i.e. wealthy) aren't elisting/commissioning.
I asked him to explain.
He said that the elite, Republicans and Democrats both, aren't sending their kids into the military. I was rather suprised because this guy is big on defense, hunting and what not. He said that the elite, as a whole believe that the war isn't good for this country based on fiscal reasons.
My response was that the war sets the battlestage abroad, rather than here and that many of those who planned the war have poured over the Muslim extremists texts and figured out that this is one way to draw out the enemy that would otherwise attack us at home (9-11) or abroad (USS cole).
I guess we each have our own opinions.
I still have immense respect for our armed forces.