They are not heroes!

A friend of mine sent me a link to a Facebook group that, if I remember correctly, was called "Soldiers are not heroes, they are tools of war" (I believe this page specifically). It's goal was pretty much what you would expect. They believed that military folks did not deserve the special recognition they got, and they were willing participants in an unjust and immoral war.

The page admin was pretty ignorant and useless to talk to. But there was members of the page that I managed to lasso into conversations. As with just about any group, there is a solid foundation of fact to what they are complaining about, and some wonderful people to talk to. I do agree with their group that the US has a terrible history of sending the military and other groups to perform actions that are not in accordance with the ideals of the country. We preach about how countries should be a democracy so the people can have a voice, then overthrow democratically elected leaders because we are not happy with the situation. We talk against dictatorships, then assist dictatorships in putting down revolutionary movements and enable them to continue torturing their population. Many of the actions of the US fly in the face of our mythology we try and sell. And it often comes right back around to bite us in the ass. Many of the groups campaigning against the US are ones we put together and armed. Putting our ideals to the side seems to always punish us, but oh well. The president who made that decision is long gone and fully unaccountable by the time we have to pay the tab on those actions.

So if the debate is if the USA government is doing a disservice to their citizens, you won't find an argument out of me. But this was not the argument that they have taken up. They are directing their anger to servicemen and women who have volunteered for service, and this changes the game significantly.

They are correct that the force is completely volunteer right now, so no one is being forced into service. People are deciding to join. But I don't think they have taken the full situation into account when they decide that makes military members accountable for the unjust ways they are used. The average age of a USMC recruit is 19 years old. If everything these people believed was true what they are saying is that a 19 year old, fresh out of high school and with all of the experience of living with his mom and working a minimum wage job, is completely at fault for being hoodwinked by a multi-trillion dollar professional organization like the US military. Because s/he was unable to see through the veil of a organization that the ENTIRE COUNTRY has not been able to get a consensus against makes that teenager a horrible, atrocity enabling murderer. The logic behind not seeing that military recruit as another victim of a system too powerful for all of us to voting citizens to get a handle on just doesn't make sense to me.

Another argument is that they are not heroes. The military people who have been killed/injured did not do it protecting the USA or their freedoms. They did it enabling the military industrial complex and other rich people. Again, I don't think that is a fair comparison. If a family member truly believed your life was in danger, and sacrificed their own to protect you, would you believe they were just an idiot that died for nothing? Or would you respect the fact that they did what they did to defend you when they truly thought you were in danger? Because that is the story that 19 year old believes. That his friends, family, fellow citizens are in danger, and by putting his life on the line he can protect you. Even if you are 100% right and where he ends up dying had nothing to do with your protection, should your anger be directed at him? Or at the people who fooled him and the majority of the country?

Don't get me wrong. Servicemen and women join for many different reasons, and not all of them are as angelic as the example I used. But a healthy percentage of military folks believe they are doing exactly that. I don't find that sacrifice all for nothing.

In all honesty, I don't find servicemen any more accountable for the atrocities our government commits than the rest of us citizens. Sure, I guess theoretically if nobody joins than they wouldn't have a sword to weird to commit these crimes (though, the issues with us not having a military might outweigh that, and I doubt the powers that be would let the military get so understaffed without kicking off a draft). But also, if all of us Americans could get our crap together and properly manage our government, we wouldn't have to worry about how that sword is wielded. That 19 year old would be able to join without being thrown to the wolves like he is now. Maybe we need to remember the myth we tell in our anthem, that this is the home of the brave. We need to stop allowing our government to take our rights and abuse our troops because we are scared and let the sales pitch of America actually match the reality.