Are you willing to fight and/or die for your country?

[ElvenKind]

Yeah, I know. Just thought I\'d make a point of it. No worries mate.

[Sgt. Boomer]

That was one big post. Sadly it was out of bounds for the topic. So I gently removed it.

(If you want what you posted, I took a copy of it seeing as it was so much, but you can\'t post it in here.)

If you guys (not spesifiacaly this poster) want to keep discussing WW1, WW2, Iraq or whatnot then make a new thread for it.

Thank you.

- EK.

[=D.C.L.I=TuRb0jUg3nD]

Shame, \'cause that was a great post, even if I dont agree with all of it. OK, so the discussion has evolved into something else, but please publish Stg. Boom-Booms post under another topic heading.

[ElvenKind]

I can prolly do that. Just have to think of a descriptive heading...

EDIT : Done. Now just remember wich one of these threads you are in you guys

[GaGrin]

isoFlux Wrote:if you think any politician is free from corruption, and doesn\'t tailor to his/her agenda to their supporters (political, and economic), you are kidding yourself. nothing is free, not even votes. politics in the media is like a shallow soap opera, while the real policy-making and voting is a delicate, dangerous, and restrictive web of red-tape and corporate thugs.

Once again I find myself quoting isoFlux.

And this is exactly why I would never fight for my country. War is simply an extention of the political game. No wars have ever been fought for purely moral grounds - not even the crusades!* Politicians need to incite the fevor and bloodlust into the population so that they will willingly go to their deaths and so will use any excuse possible.

*Offtopic but that comment INCLUDES Allied intervention in WWII. I know for a fact that Britain officially supported the Nazi party before the invasion of Poland. But as I say, thats off-topic.

[Sgt. Boomer]

[Note to self: keep posts short]8)

To briefly summarize (on topic) my last post (now new topic- thanx turbs & EK).
Wars are terrible, but sometimes they are better than the alternative. And that distinction isn’t always black and white, not even in 1939 when the now-so-obvious decision to fight Nazism was made.

I can certainly understand not wanting to volunteer for an almost-certain-death sort of mission, and even not being thrilled with the idea of joining the army and fighting. Personally I’m very grateful to be living in an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity. But of course the question was “Are you willing to fight and/or die for your country?” And to that I’d say: if I must, yes.

[jones0430]

Basically you are willing to support a system that you view as more acceptable than another. Under these conditions you can find people to join.

All militaries depend on either economic, perceived threat to the wellbeing of the individual (defending ones society, home, etc), or mandatory goverment service to populate their forces.

Once you are part of a unit other forces come to the fore. In combat you aren\'t too concerned with the idealogical motivations. You are fighting for the family around you, your squad mates.

[Sgt. Boomer]

Crazy_Ivan Wrote:Let\'s play the whole thing over again from the middle of 2002 or so... but with a slighly different plot
The following scenario is based on some guesswork and general info on the region, but is (i think) somewhat realistic.
Saddam gets murdered by a bodyguard or some suicide commando … etc, etc, etc

Whoa! Good call Ivan. I just read in the paper Friday that Uday Hussein had been plotting a coup against Saddam for the last few years. Maybe your not so crazy.

jones0430 Wrote:Once you are part of a unit other forces come to the fore. In combat you aren\'t too concerned with the idealogical motivations. You are fighting for the family around you, your squad mates.

Excellent point. Ideals and patriotism are strong motivating factors when the danger of death is far removed and abstract. But on the battlefield where death is very real, veterans always say that it’s loyalty to their comrades that motivates their actions at that point.