Why do we need an army?

[penguin7]

I do not get it. We have Mexico to the south, Canada to the north. Do we have an army to defend ourselves from these countries?

Is some country actually going to create an armada, cross the Atlantic or Pacific ocean and then invade the USA?

Do we need an army to defend ourselves from a 911 type event. Didn't the USA have an army on 9/11/01? How did the military defend us on this date?

[fenriswolf]

1. they didn't

cheney ordered our air force to stand down. We need a standing army because other people have a standing army. Believe it or not their are countries that would invade america if we did not have an army.

[Thothmes]

5. First they will have to get a big Navy.

[dysfunctional press]

11. to what end?

"Believe it or not their there are countries that would invade america if we did not have an army."

coupla questions on that point- which countries & how would they get there forces and equipment here?
where would they invade and why? how would they deal with/defend against the insurgency of american?
we can barely deal with the iraqi insurgency, and an army invading the u.s. would have a larger territory, and more people with more guns&weapons than iraq...

[thunder rising]

2. I like that. There is no defense against a surprise attack. There is only revenge.

[msongs]

3. so Obama and Hillary can vote to support and finance the Iraqi occupation? nt

[pocoloco]

4. How would we get all of our oil back without an army?

[wuushew]

6. The U.S. is really no prize either

any one that stepped foot here would find it over run with gun wielding rednecks.

[pocoloco]

9. That used to vote for Democrats

before they started fucking with the Constitution!

[jody]

7. The same reason we need law enforcement officers. n/t

[NNN0LHI]

8. To catch Osama in his cave and find Saddam's WMDs

Oh, wait a minute.

Don

[Wiley50]

10. Same as Always. To Make the world Safe for US multinational Corporations

Read (or re-read) Smedley Butler's " War Is A Racket"

Just like it has always been

[ileus]

12. Because of the defense contractors...

[JBoy]

13. Watch out for Canada

We've been watching you closely, observing your habits and patterns, and know just when to invade. Day after Thanksgiving, when everyone is at the mall.

We've had a contingent of Cajuns down in the bayou patiently waiting the last 300 years or so for the signal to attack. And actors/entertainers in Hollywood and hockey players playing for your NHL teams. And we send only our fittest, most highly trained retirees to Florida.

So yer fucked.

[dysfunctional press]

14. big chunks of our armies are staioned overseas, even in peacetime...

we maintain huge army/air/navy bases all around the world- germany, japan, korea, turkey to name a few.
and until/unless we get a candidate/president who has the political courage and will to slash defense spending, we are just as doomed as all the other imperialist republics and empires that have collapsed under financial ruin brought on by bloated military spending.

in other words:
ike was right.
and so was smedley butler

[Orwellian_Ghost]

15. Protection

It's A Racket

[justanaveragedude]

16. Because sometimes war is necessary

I know the current "war" is not, however sometimes it is. Case in point WWII. If we didn't have a standing army at the time we would have never been able to help free Europe from Nazi domination.

A standing army is not just about defending ourselves, it is also about being able to come to the aid of others when called for. If a strong nationalistic leader in Russia rose to power and decided to roll over eastern europe in order to regain the glory of the USSR wouldn't you like to be able to respond, or would you rather they just roll over the rest of Europe as well?

[penguin7]

18. But isn't this why we have the United Nations?

[pitohui]

17. the alternative is nuclear weapons

yes, you could disband the army tomorrow and let everybody go home, but be aware that the alternative would be that when we get in a conflict with another country, we would drop a big bomb on them instead

presumably we as a society have agreed that the consequences of fighting with an army on the ground are better than the consequences of fighting only with an air force tossing bombs

in some situations, say afganistan, their leader provided aid and shelter to osama bin laden in exchange for cash, now we had the alternative of sending the army in to overthrow this mullah omar and his associates -- or just drop a bomb on kabul and let god sort 'em out? if you stop and think about it, as ugly as ground fighting is, sometimes the alternative is worse

[tuckessee]

19. To collect the bad apples of US society. n/t