We have a volunteer army and have been engaging in "adventures" as far back as Vietnam. No one goes in not knowing what they'll be asked to do.
Vietnam prominently featured draftees, and in post-9/11 America the public was heavily led to believe that Iraq was somehow responsible or related to the 9/11 attacks such that one would have not reasonably known what they were signing up for.
Yes, the implication was that since then we've had a volunteer army. Sorry that wasn't clear to you.
>in post-9/11 America the public was heavily led to believe that Iraq was somehow responsible or related to the 9/11 attacks such that one would have not reasonably known what they were signing up for.
Weird, I was in my early teens then and somehow managed to suss out this was not the case (as did many prominent columnists).
And the official line on Iraq was that the possessed WMD, not that they did 9/11.
Perhaps you should revise your writings, because nothing about the sentence would imply the "since then." This is an international forum, not everyone learns the history of US military recruitment practices.
> Weird, I was in my early teens then and somehow managed to suss out this was not the case (as did many prominent columnists).
I, too, sussed this out in my teenage years but by then the Iraq war was "waning" and the writing was on the wall.
Perhaps you're just much more prescient than I, as well as the millions of young men and women who signed up to serve their country with the belief that Iraq had truly done wrong.
> And the official line on Iraq was that the possessed WMD, not that they did 9/11.
In the lead up to the invasion, our borderline state media apparatus was heavily reporting that Hussein was building WMDs. There was also much accusations of him either funding or supplying Jihadis.
If someone is not a citizen of the USA, and not familiar with how it's military functions, maybe they should take some time to educate themselves before debating how it should be used.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
>In the lead up to the invasion, our borderline state media apparatus was heavily reporting that Hussein was building WMDs. There was also much accusations of him either funding or supplying Jihadis.
It's too bad no government has ever lied or distorted the facts to push for a war prior to Iraq... astute citizens could have learned from that experience and viewed US government proclamations through a critical lens.
I fully understood, being an American. I found it worth pointing out, out of consideration for others.
> It's too bad no government has ever lied or distorted the facts to push for a war prior to Iraq... astute citizens could have learned from that experience and viewed US government proclamations through a critical lens.
Have you considered running for office? Between your flippant rhetoric and amazing understanding of all issues geopolitical you would surely be a great fit!
However, is it the military's responsible to disobey the decisions of a duly elected civilian government, such as the Iraq War resolution[0]? Civilian control of the military exists for a reason, and allowing/requiring the military to go against it would have wide ranging consequences. There are definitely unique cases to be explored, but credit/blame need to be assigned to the party responsible for the decision.
Military spending is certainly tremendously wasteful, though.