I won't speak for any larger issue, but when it comes to Iraq, the "anything" it was supposed to stand for, and the problem we were trying to solve changed several times during the buildup, execution, and aftermath of the war. You can't deride someone for not standing for something if you aren's certain what the something is.

i don't disagree with you HM. that is just a part of being in the military. we are not all stupid as many seem to think. we don't get to decide which battles to fight, which wars to go to, we aren't mercenaries. whether we agree with the cause or not, it is our sworn duty to take the fight where we are told. there are conversations that might surprise you that military members have amongst themselves that you will never be privy to. there is the public face that we maintain, the soldier's perogative to bitch about everything, and then the reality of what we think that we keep within our ranks. those that break ranks and go to the media - F 'em, they don't get it. they shouldn't be in the military.

I wanna know if Catwoman can "see" this collective conciousness. Because if she can't, she can't believe it and she can't know it. (cross threading to prove a point).

Ah, sorry, I wasn't referring to those already in the military. I was just saying that when one sees the military handled in the way it has been recently, one has a disincentive to join up, and not doing so says nothing about their patriotism.

I wouldn't be surprised in the least at conversations within the military - it's their lives that games are being played with - and I agree that the bar should be extremely high for someone already in the military to break ranks. Something on the order of direct knowledge of gross negligence or corruption and a coverup in the proper channels.

LIke anything else in life, each person who chooses to be a soldier has his or her own reasons, some logical, some emotional, some illogical, or whatever.

But, whatever your reasons, thanks for choosing to serve.