On 9/9/13 11:24 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:


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

On 9/9/13 10:48 AM, Mr. Luddite 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.

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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.

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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.




I understand what the purpose of the military is. The problems seem to
arise when the military is used actively as the military.

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I disagree. The problems arise when the military is actively used for
purposes it is not intended and politicians try to rely on it to solve
diplomatic or foreign policy issues like nation building.





Use of the military is almost always a political call.