Balderdash. Many Iraq war vets enlisted after the war had started, they went in knowing that the war was on, and they would likely be sent there. They don’t get to blame other people for what they did there.
You’ve been getting heat for your bashing of large groups of people and your over all negativity. Here’s your chance. Tell us about all your noble pursuits and how you are working towards making this country and the world better. Hint: posting here doesn’t count.
Thanks for saving me the time in writing.
Clearly you didn’t read my entire post. Go back, read it again, and then see if you have something asinine to say.
WTF does this have to do with anything? It’s proper English grammar, but it may as well be gibberish for all the sense it makes.
There are still U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan!
It is my understanding that United States is not at war with the nation of Afghanistan (an ally actually?) but the insurgents within its borders.
Yes, I wondered if he was interpreting the question that way. But you could play a lot of semantic games if you are not longer at war “with a country” as soon as you occupy and set up a friendly government. The U.S. isn’t at war with Pakistan or Yemen either. It’s still doing plenty of fighting.
Its quite easy to understand. There is a particular poster who makes a habit of making board negative claims about the actions and motivations of vast groups of the population. One of those groups are veterans/soldiers. What he has posted here is quite mild compared to some of the hatred filled screeds he has posted. Since he feels their choice of profession is ignoble at best I am giving him the opportunity to give examples from his own life of things he has done that are noble and praiseworthy. So we can all learn from his example.
Your claim was about the Vietnam era. It is not the Vietnam era anymore, perhaps you’ve noticed.
Yes, fighting along side Afghan citizens–the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. We are not currently at war with any hostile nation. I fought alongside citizens of Aghanistan. I’ve stood shoulder to shoulder with the ANA combating the Taliban and other anti-Afghan forces. I’ve worked alongside the ANP and district leaders to ensure the continued safe construction of civil projects in that country.
Being in a country does not mean we are at war with that country.
That isn’t relevant. My country feels that it is in their best interests to do so. That’s all that matters. That’s what selfless service is all about. It’s not about “why”. Ask your elected leaders why exactly it is in the citizens’ best interests, not the soldier.
No, but the fact that many of them are born in Chechnya who only came to Iraq to destroy it certainly means they are not citizens of Iraq. Nothing magical about that. That’s not the only country they came from, either.
When I fought alongside the Iraqi Army, killing enemy who flocked to that country in order to attack its citizens and infrastructure, we were not at war with Iraq. We are allies. We’re not even at war with the dozens of nations that these combatants came from. Just because everyone is a citizen of somewhere, doesn’t mean we are at war with their country. Hell, there have been some American citizens in the Taliban.
Yes, and fighting against some Afghan citizens (and others). I know. Maybe the bigger issue here that even if we take the question on your terms, it’s barely true - the 10-year anniversary of the invasion and the end of major combat operations, laughable as that was, was early this year. “Over a decade” doesn’t usually mean 10 years plus a couple of months. And “we haven’t fought another country in a decade” isn’t much to brag about to begin with.
But not fighting against the nations themselves. That’s not semantics, that’s a huge distinction.
nm
I’m sorry, not tracking.
25% of those who served in Viet Nam were drafted. 75% of those who were there were not. Some of those who did volunteer I’m sure did so to get a non-combat job. However 70% of those killed were volunteers. The largest percentage of those killed were in the Infantry. The majority of Infantry were volunteers. See how this works?
You say you find in hard to believe that 75% of the military would volunteer during war without a draft. And yet we live in a time in which 100% of our military is volunteer. No draft in sight. And we are in a time of war (although granted, operational tempo is quite low compared to several years ago). We rely on volunteers. Its actually quite difficult to join right now. Most who try don’t qualify. I’m not sure what different eras have to do with it.
Wasn’t trying to brag. I was just pointing out the error in Der Trihs’s statement. Strange that you want to say that my claim is “barely true” because it has only been slightly longer than a decade, but you’re okay with Der Trihs’s statement that “We’ve been fighting multiple nations, for decades” which isn’t true at all. Not even a little. But you would rather go after the statement that is “barely true” instead of the statement that “is completely false”. Strange.
Hell… many soldiers joined because we were at war, not despite it.
It most certainly is relevant. It goes to the entire heart of your argument. You claimed that the soldier “guarantees the prosperity of the nation and secures the American way of life for all citizens.” Having made that claim, you have to back it up. You must show that your own participation did in fact secure the American way of life.
Without that, you’re just spouting slogans. The words sound noble, but do you really mean them? Have you ever stopped to think about what the words mean, and whether you really apply them?
We are going to need a definition of “drafted” and “volunteered.” What is your definition and what is the source of your statistics?