You know, while I might agree with SOME of what you say, like the statement about defending oil instead of freedom, it annoys me when people bring up Hitler in comparison to today’s government activities. It is nothing like Hitler and you know it. Using the name is simply an attempt to create fear and is not a valid argument.

Wow. Well done. Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve tried. I’m savin’ this one. It’s a comfort to know there’s at least one other rational human being out there. Rant on McDuff.

wow, that took guts to write.

agree completely and am waiting for the other cyber-shoe to drop.

well done,
Jeff
 onelonelysuccess.com

I am not an American but you forget far to fast. I recently watched 9/11 the falling man. I cried for the first time in years. That day the free world was attacked by something that could not be felt or found.

You owe it every one of those people who were brave enough to make the decision to fly rather than fry. Those people that were forced to die so honorificly and publicly or face the alternative.

Saddam was pure evil, the Taliban worse. America needed someone to blame and people to kill and they made a good choice.

I don’t support bush or warmongering but watch that documentary and then see of you are able with good conscience to have another rant like this.

“Ten years ago you got on planes” - would you have liked to have to phone your family tell them you love them and then throw yourself to your death? For god sake get over yourself and your front of morality and wait in a bloody line for an half an hour.

I am trying hard to maintain some decency here but your badly articulated and thoughtless “rant” makes my blood boil. I know people killed in the the UK attacks. I know people who can’t ride the tube without being reminded that somewhere down here their friends and relatives were blown to smitheries.

The world is a horrible place and we live in it. Get on with it, we could be like other animals and eat each other just because we feel so inclined. Just grow up and get over yourself these people fight and die for what they believe will make a better world. You in the mean time sit writing blog posts and dossing around.

@Prydie

Hi leftystrat,

First, a fair piece to be sure. Some good points further into the article. But I have a problem with the idea that vets are merely pawns of the corporations, unknowingly or otherwise.

No matter the reasoning, wars the US fight today (ATM) are done off-site in order to prevent them from spilling over to US soil. This is a good thing for you and I.

On the negative flip-side however, we easily lose sight as to what is driving some individuals to choose to fight in these wars in the first place? Are they nuts? Not at all.

Whether one argues for it being propaganda, truth or something in between, I can tell you this from personal experience. Many young people choose to join the armed forces because they wish to serve something greater than themselves. Yes, as uncool as it is today, some people still love their country and choose to do something they believe is in defense of it. Hang on, keep reading…

I watched in anger, amazement and frustration as much of the media has worked REALLY hard to make it appear that most young people join of out blind desperation or lack of options. And while I am sure that some do join due to pressures from unscrupulous recruiters, others still choose to join because they believe in the idea of protecting their nation.

If you ask individuals such as my nephew, who comes from a well to do family, he will tell you this. He joined the army after 9-11. Smart enough to get into any branch he might have wanted, he wanted to show his support by being overseas to protect is country from individuals that clearly, would love to wipe us off the face of the Earth. And trust me, he is hardly the only one.

Way back when.

Ask my own step-father, a WII vet why he defended his country. Or even better, my biological father, that died in 1982, who was awarded a medal for fighting off the invasion with a machine gun at Perl Harbor after watching two of is friends die.

Both men later fought in different areas of the war later on, both did it because they felt what it was like to have war on your doorstep. Clearly, neither man was in it to protect “big oil” or some faceless corporation. They did it because their nation needed them. Period.

9-11.

Now obviously, the problem with the 9-11 argument is that most of those hijackers were Saudi. So we needed to attack something not producing oil for us…like other nations who did indeed, have some ties to those who attacked us, but will not likely be an issue for our boys in the Saudi oil fields. Needless to say, I was and still am not a fan of either war as I think both were badly mismanaged and still are. I get the logic, but still disagree with the follow thru.

However, I also fully realize that no matter who pulled the trigger first, a war was coming be it not with any one nation per se. And while it may seem like oil is at the base of it, there is much more to it than just the oil. It’s also about WHERE we wage said war. Venue is everything.

Rather than continue to wage it locally, we elected to have this war offshore. That means spending money we do not have in order to maintain the general sense of security many of us felt we lost on 9-11.

We are a nation that was not ready for more 9-11 type stuff on our doorsteps. Trust me, we have become a nation more concerned about what’s on TV than protecting our way of life.

Multi-nationals.

As for soldiers dieing to protect the rights of multi-nationals to sell oil in the wars of today, consider this.

China is *eating our lunch* in the oil business right now. Seriously, Google News it. Not only has the US lost it’s credit rating (literally), we are also losing access to our oil connections. And those oil assets are purchased/leased/traded, not stolen, in case it comes up later on.

Because China is not interested in the personal freedoms of expression we enjoy, that nation’s government is free to do business with countries like Iran (good people, bad government), dictatorships in central America and the list keeps on growing.

There is no code of conduct there, they will indeed, have enough resources to carry them forward while we swing in the wind.

China’s securing oil left and right while we are “stimulating” ideas that will take YEARS to ever be doable. We are busy continuing (both administrations) to write checks our nation cannot possibly honor. “It’s okay, we’ll just print it.”

Cold War 2.

Much like the USSR during the cold war, we cannot go to war with China and Russia. Instead, we are playing the fastest game of pickup sticks in history. And the best part is that we are losing big time.

This means oil on the economic front as well as influence in the idealogical front as well. China, is largely free of both while we are again, caught in the middle of both.

We have entire regions that hate our guts and are quite excited at the prospect of an eye for an eye with our names on it. So this translates into two wars. Not with specific nations, but of dollars and ideals.

Alternatives to oil.

Last time I checked, I am unable to fill my car up with wind power, the sun has not proven to be real effective, and hybrids - ah, ask about the eco-friendliness of those batteries being used - they are WORSE than regular cars by light years. Again, Google it.

What about Ethanol? The Ethanol argument was hysterical when people pointed to Brazil with their massive resources of sugar cane…which we lack and off-shore drilling (also working with China now, btw).

Yes, oil sucks.

If we could secure a Delorean to jet back to the industrial age, we might be able to fix this. But sadly, we are hooked and it is going to take YEARS to replace the sheer number of products (not even counting cars) that use oil today. Tires, makeup, cleaning products, the list goes on and on.

As a moderate Libertarian who thinks politics is BS in the first place, I am unclear as to how a soldier who chooses to go to war to “protect access to his/her country’s resources” that are actually paid for with US dollars, is not protecting one’s nation? This is the 21st century, borders do not exist anymore…despite what some might like to believe.

Domestically, you and I agree all day long about the absurdity of tackling old ladies getting onto air planes with their odd sized carry-ons.

But as for our vets, that is a vastly more complex issue than you might have realized perhaps? And I say this in the most friendly, non-a**hole sort of way I can. :)

Now I that i am going off on like the first paragraph as the rest of the article has some fair points. No question. But understand, it is massively more complicated than most people realize. We are “in the sh*t” as Gordan Ramsey likes to say. And those who serve, are not serving their government exclusively, they are also serve us and our way of life…as in lifestyle.

Just sayin’. :)

Good post, btw. :P

Well I guess you need to do more than this blog to convince “the unwashed” that our government is in this state. Believe what you want, however, don’t question the reasons for honoring our lost veterans. When one signs on for a tour of military service there is no clause in their contract to allow them to pick the wars they will participate in nor does it give them the option to quit if they don’t like the Commander in Chief.. They sign on for service to the country and quite often fight in wars that they don’t agree with. But, they do it out of Patriotism and a sincere belief that when it’s all said and done they are doing the right thing. That in itself is why they are honored!
My question is what have you done for your country?

I have one word for all that: Rothschild!

Wow, I had no idea I’d create quite this size of storm. Thanks for all the input. It’s great to see that it’s not all knee-jerk.

Well-reasoned, Matt.

More later.

Great thread going so far, it’s definitely a strong conversation for sure.

And thanks leftystrat, you too. :)

And Michael sums it up with less speech giving than I. Well put, sir. Well put indeed. :)

A fine rant there to be sure. It should be noted however, that most soldiers die to protect only 2 men. The one to his left, and the one to his right. Big ideas don’t count under fire. As for Hitler, 1 good shot would have stopped him. A great deal more would be needed to stop the government, but at least they know how to take their time. I find it most effective to take names.

I’d hate to think anyone who’d go to the trouble of making a working time machine would purposefully make it as ugly looking as a Delorean. I’d say a bit of postmodernist sculpture would work a lot better.