> I thank soldier in uniform (active duty) and people I know to have
> recently served, just as I would thank firefighters who had recently
> fought a fire in my neighborhood. And, by the way, we are pretty good
> to our firefighters in this country.
>
> One of the main reasons to single out active-duty military is not just
> what they must risk, but what they must do. I don't assume that
> soldiers like to kill people or be part of an enterprise that kills
> and destroys. In fact I know that it is a terribly disheartening thing
> to do. As a person who disagrees with their mission and wants to throw
> out their command, I want them to understand that I appreciate the
> difficulty of maintaining good order and discipline, motivation, and
> even sanity in such a violent, destructive enterprise - especially
> when people are questioning the entire structure and purpose of what
> you're doing. No firefighter has to question whether he is doing the
> right thing and every soldier does.
>
> Are there guys in Iraq who are both doing the wrong thing and doing it
> for the wrong reasons? Sure, but I don't assume this of soldiers and,
> as I say, it has not been my experience. So, I do think they deserve
> to be singled out for thanks. And I think it's very important for the
> Left to show we understand that this is OUR military and WE are just
> as responsible for them as the Right.
>
> I don't know of a socialist government that has not respected
> soldiers, so why should we on the Left?
>
> boddi
>
>
> On 11/24/05, Gar Lipow <the.typo.boy at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 11/24/05, boddi satva <lbo.boddi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Yes, many Nazi soldiers were draftees and we prosecuted realtively few
>>> people of lower rank (compared to their overall numbers). There were
>>> even Nazi draftees and officers who rejected their orders at times as
>>> illegal. I don't think the fact that there were Nazi draftees does
>>> anything but strengthen my point. Voluntary participation in war for
>>> one's society has been expected from citizens at least since the days
>>> of Greece and Rome.
>>>
>>
>> Your original argument was one of expressing "gratitude" to members of
>> the military on every conceivable occassion. Do you take the same
>> opportunity with firefighters who face much greater risks than the
>> military (compare occupation death rates) and who protect from far
>> greater dangers? Also firefighters, (unlike our military) are not
>> primarily instruments of agression; our military protects us only as a
>> side affect of agression if it protects us at all. I have great
>> sympathy for our young people in the military; I have none for their
>> mission, though I understand my view of what that mission is , is
>> drastically different from theirs.
>>
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