By LocalHero,

“and their idiot parents, who fly the flag each day,”

I couldn’t have said it better.

There should be no shortage of jobs for these vets in the burgeoning military/industrial/security complex. If you would voluntarily participate in these insane military conflicts, you would easily sell yourself out as a mercenary soldier after your discharge for top dollar to the oligarchs and act against your own citizenry. That is, if you’re not too sick after months or years of exposure to depleted uranium.

Secretary of Slaughter Gates calls for a cut in the military’s $50-billion-a-year health budget, and has the gall to spew that “health care costs are eating the Defense Department alive,..” and their idiot parents, who fly the flag each day, continue to send their propaganda-consuming kids off to wars to make the world safe for corporations.

I don’t know who’s more despicable; Gates, the arrested-adolescent soldiers or their parents.

mrfreeze, June 27 at 8:57 am Link to this comment
kerryrose - 9/11 opened the floodgates for a huge
number tragic decisions in this country. As is always
the case THE TRUTH was the first casualty and the
truth is, these current wars are unjust, illegal and
have cost us dearly. The fact that young men and
women feel the need to be heroic or patriotic doesn’t
make me any more “thankful for their sacrifices.”
They volunteer for these things. If they were
drafted, this would be a whole other discussion.
==========================
I nearly alienated my sister over her 26 yo son, who
joined up “because he had no direction in life”. He
chose the green berets of all things. I refused to
support his decision.
What a tragic waste…

by Tim Kelly

“The pioneers of a warless world are the youth who refuse military service.”—Albert Einstein

He should have added:

“.......but first they must reject the bull shit education they get from schools, parents, mentors, employers, institutions and peers who will boldly salute you when you return home in a pine box shedding crocodile tears a plenty, and as flash-bulbs pop.”

Unfortunately and sadly, much of our education consists in what is omitted from it, passed off as a lesson in “using your own head”, when in fact, they are just dodging opportunities to stick their own neck out.

Yes, and if they had a draft that included everyone of age, the wars would stop in a minute. The poor fight the rich man’s wars while the rest look the other way…...Pathetic!

So they return and become TSA agents, prison guards and cops. perfect job for their kill or be killed, bullying mentality.

I agree with most of these posts. thousands Im sure have already returned and have become cops and tsa agents. these are the perfect jobs for them and their kill or be killed training and mentality.
for us, as more and more return, we will continue to have ever increasing militarization. the quote from Einstein and Jiddu are right on the mark.

kerryrose - 9/11 opened the floodgates for a huge number tragic decisions in this country. As is always the case THE TRUTH was the first casualty and the truth is, these current wars are unjust, illegal and have cost us dearly. The fact that young men and women feel the need to be heroic or patriotic doesn’t make me any more “thankful for their sacrifices.” They volunteer for these things. If they were drafted, this would be a whole other discussion.

mr freeze

You forget about young men and their desire to be heroic, to make a difference, to fight for right and win.  These are normal desires for 18-25 year old men - especially those who do not come from families that can promise an educational ride toward doctor, or lawyer.

The army capitalizes on these feelings and income disparities.  It is normal for people to try to defend their choices rather than reflect on bad decisions.

The brain injuries of those 400,000 (and counting) veterans won’t be noticeable when they come home, especially on Election Day.

The Republican and Democrat corporate war party voters regularly provide ample evidence that the “normal” Americans, who comprise 99% of those who vote, are all profoundly brain damaged.

Republicans get the votes of the dim-witted who honestly believe war is the answer.

Democrats persuade the even weaker minded to vote for war to be the only answer.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
—Jiddu Krishnamurti

http://www.chenangogreens.org

hello. these fine young retards have plenty of great
American opportunity awaiting their return. there’s a
particular Senator from Arizona, shining proud examples
for military imbeciles to follow. they start locally,
get in the political arena, and if they are damaged
enough- one could even be Pee-resident. in the coming
TSA transformation against mass civilian uprisings,
they can even put on shiny uniforms, and be front-line
fodder for the man, here at home. i say legalize all
drugs, and put every American on equal footing, and
give these poor outcasts equal rights.

With the intentional destruction of the economy, a
huge, permanent under-class was created (formerly
middle class). That under-class is now presented with
few viable options (interesting that education isn’t
one of them), but the most viable options is the
military. That is now a class unto itself, just as
the police has been increasingly militarized into a
subset of the military class.
With the advent of perpetual war; that new class (the
military) is ensured a permanent and prominent place
in our society.
Once these people are used up they are cast aside and
return to the under-class which is now the equivalent
of the medieval serf. Serf’s farmed/worked the land
of the wealthy and would never themselves be land
owners. To all appearances we’re fitting that model
quite well.
The present system is not repairable, but, the
question is; does one want to repair this system?
I vote no…

I had a testy exchange with a soldier today on HP who responded rather defensively to a comment I made about the headline:

“Afghanistan War: A Decade On, No Clear Answers”

The article was all about the “sacrifices” our troops have made and whether or not it’s been worth it…......

OF COURSE NOT, IT HASN’T BEEN WORTH IT. But moreover, he was pissed off when I had the temerity to point out that he volunteered to go. He was not drafted. (he even mentioned that he bore a child right before being deployed????) To me there is no “sacrifice” when one puts oneself in harm’s way for a war PREDICATED ON NOTHING BUT LIES AND FALSE NATIONALISM.

I realize my opinion is probably not popular, but if 400,000 people had not volunteered to show up for GWB’s illegal, ill-conceived, poorly executed side-shows, they would not have to endure war-related problems and we, you and I would not have to pay even more for a PACK OF LIES. Who do you all think is going to pay for this mess? Corporations (who are supposedly being protected by the troops) aren’t paying taxes. There are a huge number of “private contractors” who have been sucking at the military tit with no end in sight. And, what’s going to happen when all of these returning (damaged) human beings find there are no jobs or other opportunities here in the “land of opportunity” that they sincerely thought they were defending. It’s a big stinking pile of poo my friends…....

How is it that the new recruits signing up to be part of our volunteer Army don’t seem to be aware that they’ll be discarded and forgotten once their usefulness is at an end? Haven’t the news sources made it plain enough that when you come home from war now, you make a trasition from being one of those things America is very proud of to being one of those things that gets swept under a rug? If you serve in the Armed Forces of the United States, you will be used up and thrown away like so much garbage. I served, got out in ‘69, and I don’t have a single Veteran’s benefit left. The government took ‘em all away. I guess I only mattered while I was serving. Take a hint, young Americans—-you don’t matter either.

Health care costs are eating away at the Pentagon
budget?  I have a solution: bring the fucking troops
home!!!