edited from "Don’t Support the Troops" by Brandon J. Snider - http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/snider1.htmlThe US has an all-volunteer army now. These aren’t the days of the draft, where men are ordered to kill-or-be-killed. (Though even in the days of the draft, it was possible to peacefully resist). Still, many arguments abound against criticism of troops:
1) The troops were lied to by the administration - specifically with regards WMDs.
What a revolutionary idea, that politicians lie. Strange that we never believed those lies. Strange that we knew from the second that they escaped Colin L. Powell’s lips. That it was, as Powell himself said, "bullsh!t."
When has the US military ever been used as a defensive force? The US is not in danger of invasion, has never been in danger of invasion, and does not require a standing military. Even with these obvious truths, the US has had a standing military of ever increasing size since before the Cretaceous period.
The US military is, was, and ever shall be, an offensive force - existing at the meddlesome whims of political masters. If GI Joe joined the military thinking he would only be used if the US were attacked, he was suffering from an incurable form of galactic foolishness. Let’s not lionize a fool, especially one with a gun.
2) They’re naïve; they didn’t understand what they were getting into when they signed up.
And yet, again, we do seem to understand. We did not sign up, because we didn’t want to kill or be killed, for the state. What have we been doing right that they have not? Is the information so hidden that they cannot seek out and determine for themselves what they’re getting themselves into?
Certainly there is no substitute for experience, which they certainly lack. But is it not their responsibility, given what they do know about their impending duties, to seek out and inform themselves of what awaits? They are, after all, being asked to take a weapon and kill other human beings. They know that much. That’s not the sort of thing one would do in Sunday school. How much more pathetic and contemptible does it make them that they didn’t properly investigate the situation before they volunteered?
It is also reasonable to assume that many of them do understand and are happy to carry out their orders. The fact that the troops continue to obey orders, and some no doubt enjoy their jobs, clearly reflects their attitudes – and suggests what level of sympathy they deserve.
3) In joining, they’re acting in their financial best interests, like we all do. It’s not their fault, it’s the system.
Some equate the military to being on a public works project. Before you continue with this easy, lazy line of thought, be sure to draw a clear moral demarcation point between building a road and blasting someone’s head off.
4) Troops are victims of military planners.
If so, they share equal responsibility for their victimhood. What do we call someone who’s killed by an invading force? We usually try not to call them anything at all. We usually ignore them and focus on our own casualties. They are, however, clearly victims. The troops who have victimized them share responsibility with the military planners. Troops are not mindless machines, automatons carrying out prearranged instructions as if without free will. At any time, they can lay down their weapons and refuse to kill.
5) War is just one big insane disaster; blaming individual troops for what happens is not fair.
If you and I know that war is an insane kill-fest, then why doesn’t GI Joe know it beforehand? And isn’t it his responsibility to know?
Conclusion
We hold brutal killers like John Wesley Hardin or Charles Manson in the lowest regard, but the difference between these killers and military troops is semantic and symbolic. It’s time to address the issue of the troops with the brutality it richly deserves. It’s time to deconstruct the myth of the glorious military adventure.
It’s long past time we shame people who think about military service. Perhaps then fewer young people will throw their lives away. Shame people into refusing to join and the supply of cannon fodder will atrophy to the point where foreign adventures will not be possible without a draft.
