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You served during a conflict that wasn't our fight. We were interventionists on someone else's behalf. There was an indirect relationship to our ideology which leaves more room for doubt about whether or not the means were appropriate and if it was worth the sacrifices. Your perspective is influenced by those circumstances.
Someone responding to a direct threat against us, as terrorists have perpetrated, recognizes the value of taking the fight into enemy territory so that it doesn't continue here. They are more accepting of the sacrifices and have fewer reservations about using the means at their disposal.
Military snipers are just another weapon in the arsenal. Sniper training also makes for better counter-snipers. That's why we have police snipers too.
I'm not going to try to justify this country's military excursions. I served between the Vietnam conflict and the first Golf War (I wouldn't have chosen to participate in either); but, don't construe that to mean I haven't been exposed to similar risks and lost friends. I am a Cold War veteran. SF is currently operating in about 29 different countries and it's always been that way (a lot of Americans can't even name 29 countries). It's the nature of clandestine ops that one doesn't wear their experiences on their sleeve. I can say though, I wouldn't have had a problem with operating in countries that housed terrorist training camps. An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure in areas other than medicine.
Flashback: The Beetles released their album Abbey Road on this date in 1969.
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