Rethinking the role of our Armed Forces.

[Cascadian]

First of all, I want to thank all of those who have served in our military as well as those who still serve on this Memorial Day.

In the last 60 years, our nation has been a world superpower. Even before that, our country would get involved militarily with the affairs of other nations. It was justified for us to be involved in World War II and perhaps it was justified to be a counter balance to the other superpower, the Soviet Union. Now, the Soviet Union is no more and the United States has become the "king of the mountain" so to speak. Do we really need to throw our weight around everywhere anymore? Our country has one of the largest militaries in the world. However, do we really need to throw our weight around at every country in the world? When the Soviet Union collapsed and their Eastern European puppet states became free, this I believe, should have been the time when NATO disbanded. America should be non-aligned. In fact, I think that the role of our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and even Coast Guard should be to protect our borders. We remain strong as a military but I believe we should not have troops in every country in the world. Pax Americana now resembles Pax Romana of the Roman Empire. Look what happened to that superpower? The only time we ought to get involved with international issues is only with humanitarian efforts and peacekeeping. We do not have the right to bomb and invade any country we deem as "evil" or whatever. All or most of our troops should all come home. Also, we need a less biased foreign policy in the Middle East. I believe the hostility towards America would significantly decrease among Arabs if we did this.

A lot of people make the one-track and mistaken opinion that being non-aligned means isolationism. That is ridiculous. A non-aligned America would mean we continue to be involved internationally but not be this world policeman. We continue to be powerful and address accordingly any aggressive attack upon us and our soil. This does not mean we invade any country we please and murder their peoples and destroy their infrastructure.

We have got to seriously rethink our military and foreign policies. Plain and simple. I am sure that people in other countries will be less hostile to Americans thus making fanatics like Al-Qaeda less effective on recruiting so-called "Martyrs of Allah". The world would be a better place as well. After all, one can only be on top of the mountain for so long. All those empires before us have never lasted. If you don't believe me then read your history books.


John

[misternormal]

1. Agreed Completely

[dubeskin]

2. I partially agree with that, but

I think the idea that we remain unaligned could possibly be dangerous. Some trades may fail and countries distrust us. I actually wonder why we even have a military. Whenever they are used, people object to them killing innocent civilians and leaving home. And people object when they are sent to the borders. There really is no point in my opinion, because that is all they really do. Also, another thing. China is also gaining much support, and is expected by some to surpass the US as the next world superpower. What do I know, I am only a 9-th grader.

[jody]

3. One place to start is to allow men/women in the military to resign/quit

whenever they want to with an honorable discharge unless war has been declared by Congress.

What would happen if a President started an Undeclared War and most of his/her troops voted not to fight by resigning/quitting?

[PublicRadioVet]

4. This is a bad idea

The military can't be just like any other job. Not after you sign on the line anyway.

To have an effective military you have to have discipline within the ranks, and a basic knowledge on the part of every soldier that they MUST FOLLOW ORDERS, even if it means fighting, even if it means dying, even if it means going overseas on the whim of some schmuck in a suit who wants to meddle in foreign affairs. When any of us sign up, we take an oath to protect and defend the Constitution AND obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed under him.

We might not like that President or his officers, but then again, if a man or woman can't stomach the idea of being ordered about by people they might not like, they shouldn't be in uniform in the first place.

Giving troops a free "out" dissolves one of the fundamental tennets of military service, and is a slap in the face to all prior servicemembers who worked hard, or even died, while fulfilling their obligations, especially during times when they didn't necessarily want to.

[jody]

6. Bad idea? It's a bad idea for a president to order men/women to attack

a country without provocation with certain knowledge than some/many of them will die.

When Congress has declared war or a President must use force to defend or counter attack an unprovoked attack, then one might make a moral argument but not until then.

Since when does signing on the line include dying? Presidents and Congress don't place their lives at risk. There is essentially a zero probability that any country other than perhaps Russia or China could defeat the U.S.

As such Presidents and Congress are simply spectators as military personnel die.

[Cascadian]

5. kick