Just kidding. But seriously, i was having a chat with an old friend who i normally always agree with and we had a slight difference of opinion, so naturally, i thought it'd make good forum material. Anyway, the topic is war. Now for those of you who dont know, im a war vet. No, not the tap tap kind, either, so i think i bring a unique perspective to the topic. Now, a few years ago, this same friend asked me if i thought joining the military was a good idea. At the time, i said it was probably the best decision i had ever made - the benefits are great, you get to serve your country, yada, yada, yada. I was asked the same question today, by the same friend, and found myself responding in a completely different way. Maybe my brain washing is wearing off. IDK. One of the main points of our discussion was whether laying down your life for a nation at endless war was a worthy cause. It is my belief that our nation (U.S.A.) hasnt had a credible threat to national security since before i was born over 20 years ago. My friend had a different take on things. He said that groups like ISIS ought to be crushed so they dont grow big and spread their influence. So here's my question: Is it a good idea for a young person to join the U.S. Military? If so, why? If not, why not? I have much more to say about this, but im going to leave it at that and see where this thread goes.
Isis is a major global threat and Needs stopping at all cost, just seems that the western world are the only ones to step up to the plate so far
ISIS needs to be stopped, not only are they killing our citizens but other citizens of other countries. Anytime a terrorist group rises to power we ALL should pitch in to wipe them off the face of the earth
I agree Hellboy and Hulk. I'm surprised nobody is opposing or trashing this thread as military actions require guns. Also, thanks for your military service to your country and to all active service members and veterans.
9/11 was a terrible thing, but theres nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. Let me ask you this: what specific threat do you think isis would pose to our national security if we did nothing?
Reserved Okay, so... What is war? war is a conflict between... people or peoples that has escalated to such and extent that physical violence is used to determine the outcome rather than simple reasoning. I guess in some cases, reasoning is not the answer because you cannot simply reason your way around a radicalized belief that all of the west deserves slaughtered and sent to hell. Especially when people are killing themselves to support the cause. I personally don't particularly support war but I do feel that investing the time to kill off organisations like ISIS or whatever is probably better for everyone on the longer term. I mean sure we can stop a lot of large scale events... I assume so anyway otherwise I am fairly sure we'd have weekly attacks all over the west. But who's to say that organisations set to destroy the west won't think of better and new ways to reach their over all goals? So I say, don't give them the chance, wipe them out and hope for the best. War itself, vague as it is, I don't think is ever the answer. It is like competitive relationships between 2 organisms- both are harmed but only one superior organism will come out on top. Humans are more advanced than having to compete with each other to the death, we have the ability to understand and reason with one another. We should never have to fight to the death for anything and I stand by that through and through.
There's always a way to prevent something, I'm not sure how 9/11 could have been prevented. After 9/11 is when the US became strict and even started becoming fearful of people who looked "Arab" The effective way to prevent ISIS is to continue to run intelligence missions to see who their leaders are, or just bombing them to pieces. Either way, they will continue killing until they and are either dead or achieve what they want
If there was a way to prevent 9/11, we would have done it. You cant look back and say "well, if we stopped letting muslims take flight lessons, then we could have avoided it." Thats nonsense. Hindsight is always 20/20, and its unfair to the protectors of our nation to call them out for what they could not have reasonably foreseen. Have you ever wondered why isis even exists? What their purpose is? How have they gained so many numbers?
Just something to consider: At what point do we decide that attempting to prevent something is not worth doing what must be done to prevent it? Or: When do we draw the line? When do we go to far to prevent something?
I agree, eventually we just have to accept the risks and continue on with our lives. Personally, I consider the TSA and air travel a example where we've gone too far towards caution. Maybe that's just because I hate airlines though
9/11 could have been presented, if you think otherwise then you should reconsider your thinking. Anything can happen, doesn't mean that it will happen.
Clumsy - just read your post on page 1. My answer to you is simple - if someone wants to hurt lots of people in the U.S., its not very hard to accomplish that goal - and im not talking about using a gun to do it either. Im not sure how many people appreciate how fragile our society really is. I can tell you that our water supplies can very easily be poisoned. A deadly virus could be released in a NY city subway and spread across the nation in just a few short days. Entire power grids and internet and phone connections can be taken offline with a simple shovel and a hacksaw. But why havent these things happened? Surely, Isis has at least one member who is a U.S. Citizen. Think about that...