Interesting points, Av. Never thought about the IDF in that way, but it's true. IDF does have a bit of a different culture though and I suspect there's a bit more influence going on there than what we might observe in our armed forces if we had conscription. Of course we'll never know.
I get it. Your boyfriend got hard nipples because he finally had the chance to kill people. Got bored by practice targets?
Whilst I understand ( hopefully ) the intent behind Daphnias post , I believe it is poorly stated. The desire to do the job to the best of ones ability is very true. The desire to kill, that's the hardest thing in the world to live with. Taking a life is extremely difficult and to an extent it changes who you are forever. It's not the desire to go into combat and kill that drives most soldiers in my experience. It's the desire to go into the service of your nation, and protect people. That was the strongest motivator I encountered. Yes soldiers sometimes have to kill. It's a part of the job, you have to accept that it's them or you, and they won't blink. It doesn't make it easier to live with. Especially not when you return to civy street and have to deal with what you went through and had to do. Flippant remarks that belittle forces personal are easy to make. Whilst their are thousands abroad who believe they are making the world a better place for everyone else. Now as I said I don't agree with the current conflicts motivators. But I honour the service personal and the sacrifice those still in the field make for our nations. A sacrifice they make because they truly want what is best for their nation. Despite the politics behind the scene.
@Nightwing I approximately quote Daphnia's post. "Their reaction to the start of War on Terror? Excitement!" Her boyfriend must be a sick person. No sane person could be "excited" because a war has started. A war has started! Woohoooo! I can make the world a safer place now!!!
Out of curiosity, how much autonomy, self-oversight, and control do you all believe the military should have (especially regarding personnel, R&D, and stockpiles of weaponry and vehicles)? And what would be the best way to implement any external oversight to military operations (Assuming there would be any)? I ask this for two reasons: By and large, I think the American public is content to let the military decide what it needs itself, to the extent that they're almost afraid to critique what the military does for fear of being labeled anti-troops. Then you see examples of things like the F-35 (which I'm curious to your thoughts as well) which has taken up absurd amounts of time, money and resources. Would more oversight have limited this? On the opposite hand, you have congress who can essentially force the military to acquire things they no longer need, solely to please the constituents of certain representatives - for example the excess tanks congress forced the army to acquire that sit doing nothing now (or I think more recently the Warthog is an example, though maybe that's between branches). In your opinion, is there a better way to balance what control is split between the military and outside oversight than what we have now?
There was so much waste, fraud and abuse when I was in, it was crazy. The way the military budget and supply requests work is complete nonsense. Our finance guys and commanders would have to submit requests for double whatever amount they thought they needed for any particular mission. Then if we actually got more than half or didn't use it all, we were ordered to literally waste it by doing things like taking MREs home or shooting thousands or bullets at nothing just to use up the ammo. Why? Because if we requested exactly what we needed, we wouldn't get it. And if we turned in our unused ammo and food, next time we requested it, they would penalize us by giving us less. I can't tell you how many pairs of Oakleys I was issued. And WileyX glasses and dust goggles. I had like 3 helmets (all identical). 3-4 rucksacks, dozens of socks, thermal underwear, boots, uniforms, hats and T-shirts. Every few years they'd change the camo pattern on our BDUs, so they'd have to issue us new uniforms every few years. I started with the green BDU camies, then the digital light green/grey. Then they changed the dress uniform from pickle green to navy blue. We had uparmored humvees that we straight up just left in Iraq lol. They had these fancy radios that were supposed to track troops on the battlefield that cost like a million bucks or something (never worked right). The chow halls in Iraq FOBs were just ridiculous. You know someone was getting rich off those. They literally had T-bone steak and lobster every day. Who the hell thought it a good idea to feed troops steak and lobster in a combat zone? The FOBs were constantly under construction because they were constantly being shelled. They had this multi million dollar machine that could supposedly track where mortar fire was coming from. Piece of crap never worked. I had more 30-round magazines than I could ever carry. They gave me like 3-4 combat vests that were all basically the same with minor changes from one version to the next. Some of the FOBs had full on recreation centers with BBall courts and swimming pools and high speed internet and computers and long distance phones. They even had Burger King and Pizza Hut over there in the FOB lol. I never thought about it at the time, but there was literally millions of dollars all around me and my brothers and I were paying for it all with our blood. Government military contractors. The military industrial complex. It's huge and powerful. And it owns the White House and congress. And yes, the F-35 is kind of like the case point for government military waste spending. They're all corrupt and should be behind bars if you ask me. Halliburton, KBR, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing. All corrupting our politicians.
There's a really good American Dad! episode with this exact problem :lol: Do you think there is any chance of overturning the way things currently are from within or is it going to take some sort of major external upheaval to gets things into check?
There's no incentive for anyone involved to change. The contractors fund re election campaigns. Plus they're constantly moving in and out of the revolving door. It's a self-regulating industry that doesn't regulate except to release additional funding for itself. They're not gonna fix themselves and Americans are too fat, lazy and ignorant to give a crap to do a damn thing about it. So nothing is gonna change. And no outside influence is gonna do anything because there's no outsiders willing to take on the challenge of ending corruption and holding our elected officials accountable for their actions. Campaign finance laws in the U.S., particularly in a post-Citizens United world, are making it impossible for the voice of the American people to be heard. But then again, most Americans don't give a crap. Hell, most Americans can't name their congressman, so you know they aren't calling congress demanding change. So why would any congressman change for an uninterested and unwilling constituency? Only ones calling congressmen are lobbyists representing special interests, so there you go. We get what we deserve, which is an electorate that doesn't represent the people. But then the people get mad and scream "we are the 99%." I call BS. Where were your screams when they passed NAFTA? Where were your screams when they had no proof to invade Iraq? There was generally silence regarding the official 9/11 story, when it clearly stated that a building 2 blocks away collapsed into its own footprint from an ember. THATS IMPOSSIBLE! All we are are sheep, and we deserve the government we get. People like to blame the government, but I blame the people for their ignorance. We live in the age of information. There's no more excuse not to be informed. All the answers are just a few clicks away. Hell, you can even get incoming notifications for political activity on your phone, which requires literally ZERO effort lol. But people don't do it because they don't care.
They don't care unless it negatively effects them, or rather unless they're told it negatively effects them even if it doesn't :lol:
No, they don't care about anything, even if it negatively affects them. I challenge you to talk to 20 friends/coworkers/classmates/etc. Ask them first what their biggest complaint is about the government. Then ask them if they know who their congressman is and when was the last time they called or had a meeting with them to discuss their concerns. Chances are you'll get a blank stare.
You're dead on with that assessment. Hell, the only reason I've even spoken to any of my representatives is because I know them personally, so I can't say I'm any better.