tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post1894237690479889228..comments2024-02-11T06:00:30.938-07:00Comments on Skeptical Eye: More Madness from General McChrystalNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09991410496107221875noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-53557477533553560172009-10-18T19:16:55.669-07:002009-10-18T19:16:55.669-07:00I think it would be interesting if soldiers starte...I think it would be interesting if soldiers started going AWOL over ethical objections to the war. However, from the soldiers I've talked to, it doesn't sound likely at all.<br /><br />People go into the military first for financial reasons, second because their family has a tradition of it, and third because they think they'll like it. People in it for the first reason can't afford to leave, and those in for the second and third reasons won't leave.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02504734487692109101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-35073289295764567592009-10-17T10:46:51.014-07:002009-10-17T10:46:51.014-07:00Thanks for the link, Adam. I'll definitely ch...Thanks for the link, Adam. I'll definitely check it out.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17784891986767555556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-82086573901582493162009-10-17T10:45:43.103-07:002009-10-17T10:45:43.103-07:00You make some good points, Ginx.
Obama's a ...You make some good points, Ginx. <br /><br />Obama's a smart guy and he has to know that this war isn't furthering American interests, just the interests of the military industrial complex. So he's definitely to blame.<br /><br />But I also blame McChrystal. I see your point. He's military guy, and we should expect military guys to do whatever it takes to win wars. That's what the military's there for -- to kill people and destroy things. But none of this justifies mass-murder. The Nuremberg judges concluded that Nazi soldiers had a moral obligation not to follow orders -- and McChrystal, too, has a moral obligation to stop enabling mass-murder. <br /><br />So f**k them both.Donhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17784891986767555556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-31259349291890878872009-10-17T04:29:34.397-07:002009-10-17T04:29:34.397-07:00I read some of this yesterday:
http://www.mcu.usm...I read some of this yesterday:<br /><br />http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/COIN%20Symposium%20Documents/Transcript%20-%20Panel%203.pdf<br /><br />It's Vietnamistan.AdamShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08217603013523768701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-542518648627849085.post-30005092059977090242009-10-17T02:57:46.449-07:002009-10-17T02:57:46.449-07:00The war in Afghanistan about different things to d...The war in Afghanistan about different things to different people. <br /><br />To Obama, it's his opportunity to not seem weak, even though he was elected as a peace candidate. Maybe standing up to Republicans would do this without killing American soldiers and Afghans...<br /><br />McChrystal is another matter, and it is very simple: a general's job is to ask for more firepower and to use it in combat. It's really not up to military personel to decide whether to be in a war or not; they're just "following orders," and trying their best to attain some level of "victory." <br /><br />Once military personel aren't in the chain of command, most have admitted both wars in the Middle East are pointless and that we should leave. While they're in it, their only concern is (and perhaps should be) protecting those around them. To McChrystal, this means sending more troops.<br /><br />It's a general's job to throw increasingly more and more troops at an enemy. It's the president's job to decide when to unleash the dogs of the military... or when to chain them up and resume other forms of diplomacy.<br /><br />I don't blame McChrystal; I blame Obama. McChrystal is doing his job just as I would expect, Obama is not.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02504734487692109101noreply@blogger.com