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While a lot of negative feelings began during Bush's Iraq war, it was during Obama's presidency that the military moral dropped significantly. Didn't he allow gays to join which made straight soldiers uncomfortable to be around? How about paying for sex change operations while serving? Didn't he cut the military drastically? Wasn't he super weak and allowed seria (?) to cross the lines in the sand that he drew without any consequences? Obama clearly apologized for this nations to many countries, bowing to their leaders instead of shaking their hands firmly. That is where the military and the country's divide grew the widest and the fastest. I did not vote for him but was happy as hell when he beat Hillary in the primaries. I actually believed for a moment that the first black president could have unified the races but he only poured fuel on the fire and wedged everyone apart, and played the race card over and over, constantly blaming police for anything done to black people, no matter what the situation. This is all my opinion but that time period seemed to
I’m not 100% certain of your claim that if we had a Pearl Harbor type attack today that there would be “lines a mile long trying to enlist”. We aren’t that country anymore. There are large parts of the country, mostly made up of immigrants and other leftists, who would probably take the other side.
Also, there is a considerable portion of the population who would not serve under this administration, just like there would be a considerable portion of the population who wouldn’t serve under the opposite political party.
We are two nations trying to coexist as one, plus a bunch of people who don’t like either side.
You are right. Back then, we all seemed to have many things in common. Now we are simply too diverse. That diversity is not the problem in itself as much as it is that we are filling the country up with people (mostly illegal at that) that have no desire to assimilate into our culture. In fact, they downright hate us as a country.
In the case of the US, it's highly unlikely to be an attack on the US mainland by a state actor, but as with WWII, an attack on some far-flung US territory or ally.
911 was such an attack. Probably as bad as Pearl Harbor in some ways. Our military was not attacked but our private citizens and our monetary system was. Now that terrorists are entering without challenge through our border daily these past few years, look for more similar attacks on our soil. They are already here.
At various points, I have wondered if bringing back the draft would be a good idea. There are different reasons though why I just don't think it would work. I'll name a few:
1. Intense opposition from a large segment of the country. The Vietnam experience was very tough on the military. They had to deal with thousands of soldiers and sailors going AWOL and deserting. As the war became unpopular around 1968, discipline problems became huge. There are provable accounts of some soldiers deliberately killing officers who they thought were too "gung ho" and were taking to many chances.
2. The military has changed dramatically over the years. What are needed are well-trained soldiers who understand how to use and operate technology and are more than warm bodies.
3. The cost of administering a draft and determining who should be selected. Gender issues today would have to be worked through. The issue of who should get a deferment and who should not requires many subjective moral judgments.
If you look at Vietnam and Afghanistan, both unpopular wars, they were regarded as distant wars that many believed were not fought in defence of America and wars of that sort were never popular throughout history either.
I can appreciate your comments regarding the great changes in the military over the decades.
If an oppressive regime such as Putin's Russia have problems with the call for recruits and having to resort to pardons for criminals in return for a trip to the Ukraine front line then a democracy would have far more
911 was such an attack. Probably as bad as Pearl Harbor in some ways. Our military was not attacked but our private citizens and our monetary system was. Now that terrorists are entering without challenge through our border daily these past few years, look for more similar attacks on our soil. They are already here.
A bigger threat than terrorism are the increasing numbers of mass shootings by individuals all of whom were born in this country
I can only be grateful that I don't have a son or daughter away from home on some college campus to worry about
You are right. Back then, we all seemed to have many things in common. Now we are simply too diverse. That diversity is not the problem in itself as much as it is that we are filling the country up with people (mostly illegal at that) that have no desire to assimilate into our culture. In fact, they downright hate us as a country.
Well, here is an anecdote about that, though.
Back in the early 2000s, I and several other military retirees in our university town started an organization for middle- and high-school boys and girls modeled after Jr ROTC because none of the schools in the city was willing to support a Jr ROTC unit. The schools were overtly anti-military.
We did drill and ceremony, we taught citizenship and military values. We participated in local events, marched in local parades, and we supported the VFW and American Legion. We went out on "bivouacs" several times a year.
We built a nicely sized unit of teenagers, but it was mostly working-class white youth. We had one second-generation Chinese kid and one black kid (I could not for the life of me get black parents interested).
But then, going into the latter 2000s, it changed. I didn't even notice it changing. Over the course of that time, the city gained a major influx of Latinos. I'd noticed it around the city, but it caught me by surprise in our youth "academy."
I remember the morning I had the kids out in the parking lot in formation. I was giving them some instructions while they were at parade rest, but one kid right in front of me kept talking to the new kid beside him. I realized he was speaking Spanish, and although my Spanish is nearly non-existent, I could hear that he was translating my instructions to the new kid.
That was when I suddenly looked at the group and realized over the course of the Iraq War, the composition of our group had changed from nearly all white to nearly all Latino.
Why would Latino parents want to get their children into an "All-American Military Academy?" Because we were giving kids direct training in how to be American citizens.
911 was such an attack. Probably as bad as Pearl Harbor in some ways. Our military was not attacked but our private citizens and our monetary system was. Now that terrorists are entering without challenge through our border daily these past few years, look for more similar attacks on our soil. They are already here.
9/11 was not by a state actor, which is the kind of attack I specified. A state actor like Iran is not going to launch a 9/11 type attack.
Refusing to serve under a particular administration was never an option. Those who refused the Vietnam draft under both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon had to leave the US and go to Canada. Unfortunately Jimmy Carter made the choice of giving them all a pardon.
Correct, it was never an option. But we live in vastly different times nowadays. The rule of law has broken down in many aspects of life within the US. Why would anyone follow a draft order when the authorities won’t even prosecute most misdemeanors?
I can already see it now, sanctuary cities for draft dodgers.
Thats why I think you need to use the carrot instead of the stick when it comes to forcing (coercing) people to serve.
While a lot of negative feelings began during Bush's Iraq war, it was during Obama's presidency that the military moral dropped significantly. Didn't he allow gays to join which made straight soldiers uncomfortable to be around? How about paying for sex change operations while serving? Didn't he cut the military drastically? Wasn't he super weak and allowed seria (?) to cross the lines in the sand that he drew without any consequences? Obama clearly apologized for this nations to many countries, bowing to their leaders instead of shaking their hands firmly. That is where the military and the country's divide grew the widest and the fastest. I did not vote for him but was happy as hell when he beat Hillary in the primaries. I actually believed for a moment that the first black president could have unified the races but he only poured fuel on the fire and wedged everyone apart, and played the race card over and over, constantly blaming police for anything done to black people, no matter what the situation. This is all my opinion but that time period seemed to
Since the days of the Continental Army, sexual minority soldiers have always been around: General von Steuben was gay (to use a modern term); General Pulaski was inter-sexed (an interesting history on how that was discovered), Deborah Sampson and others "passed" as men to serve. Multiple accounts testify that General Archer (CSA) was gay; perhaps General Cleburne (CSA); crossdressing boys as women was epidemic in a MA regiment stationed in VA.
General von Steuben aside, even General Washington turned a blind eye to gay relations; when Benedict Arnold would not let the matter of the relations between Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin and an enlisted man drop, Washington chose the lesser charge of fraternization and Enslin was drummed out, not executed; and let's not get into the relationship between Hamilton and Laurens.
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