I’ll bet you didn’t realize that the DC Sniper was really the fault of the Army, the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, the INS, societal warping of the male psyche, and the capricious and unjust nature of our economy and justice system.
Well, you would realize it, if the Man weren’t keeping you down. No, really. Honest. Wait … where are you going? Don’t you want to hear the truth, man? Really! I’m not kidding around here …
(via InstaPundit)
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Yes, well, the opinions expressed are a little to the left, but his point about our being the most militarized nation on earth is one I concur with. What exactly do you do once you’ve bought all the weapons and trained all the soldiers if you don’t go to war? Seems like quite a waste of money if you aren’t shooting at something.
And it’s not like that army is protecting us from the major dangers that we face today. Can the 4th expiditionary force stop guys from driving planes into buildings, or stop a crazed gunman with some military training from shooting random citizens? However, good police work (with a little help from said crazed gunman) did stop him. And more consistant security policies might have stopped the hijackers. But those things require thought and time which cost money. Which we have already spent on M-16s to train guys in the army to shoot really well.
However, please do not think that I blame anyone other than the shooter for his actions. He is yet another loser from the ilk of Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Andy Williams, Barbara Spencer, John Hinkley, etc. And the really sad part is how easily those names trip off my tongue. I think I’ll go wash my mouth out…
Well, our being so “militarized” did enable us to do something about Afghanistan, and about Iraq in 1991, and about Yugoslavia in-between. And it gives us some options in Iraq in 2002 (and 2003), and helps forestall some of North Korea’s options, and helped forestall some of the USSR’s, and …
None of those directly address terrorists flying into buildings, or sniping at suburbans. But, on the other hand, they’re not meant to, any more than the local police (or other worthy things we spend money on) are helpful for the things that the military is good at.
I’ve got to question his “fact” about the US being the most militarized. I believe that title belongs to China. They have the greatest number of infantry in the world. They do, however, lack out technological capabilities. The US differs from the majority of the world in our military doctrine. Commanders are taught that it’s better to loose Things than it is to loose People.
I find it intersting that people question the need for our military. It’s true that certain areas of the military are wasteful, but not the military as a whole. I’ll agree that our military can’t stop lunatics from crashing planes into buildings, but I firmly believe that the threat of repraisals stops a great number of our enemies from attacking us. Our political leadership just needs the backbone to “do what’s necessary”.