On Mon, 9 Sep 2013 10:48:57 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" nowayalso.jose.com wrote:



"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
...

On 9/9/13 10:26 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:


"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...


I think we *win* when we sent our military forces into
underdeveloped
countries to provide disaster relief, food, medical care, potable
water,
repairing of light infrastructure, et cetera, with everything marked
as
"A Gift from the People of the United States," or when we align with
other major powers to serve as peacekeepers. Taking sides in civil
wars
when the new guys are as bad as the old guys doesn't seem to work
out
for us.

------------------------------

Those goals are not ... and have never been ... the purpose of our
military.

The military is for fighting and winning wars or major military
conflicts.
Peacemaking, disaster relief, medical care, etc., is best performed
by
other organizations.



We don't have major military conflicts or wars anymore, unless we
create
them, and history the last 70 years pretty much shows we shouldn't be
fighting wars or major military conflicts.

Working in the ways I've described will increase the prestige and
esteem
of this nation around the world, and it will give the military
something
actually *useful and helpful* to do.

------------------------

Again, that's not the purpose of the military. The military forces
are trained and maintained to deal with threats to our national
interests and to maintain a strong deterrent to foreign aggression .

The National Guard (mostly reservists) are occasionally called upon
to help with domestic natural disasters or civil unrest that threaten
civilians, however their role is usually secondary to local law
enforcement.

Sometimes you appear to have an unrealistic, utopian view of the
world. Without the strong military capability that we have, we
probably wouldn't be the USA today.



You're doing a pretty good job, definitely devoting a lot more time to FQAD then he deserves.

However, members of the National Guard are not called 'reservists'. Members of the US Army Reserve
are called Reservists. Both organizations are part of the Reserve components, but they're quite
different.

John (Gun Nut) H.
--

Hope you're having a great day!