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U.S. Military

Identity Politics Über Alles

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Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is backing a bill to reinstate the draft, but he wants to include women this time. Gender and liberal feminists are responding in various ways, but they seem to have arrived at the same conclusion: an endorsement of drafting women. The why of it Many gender and liberal feminists view female conscription as a Left ... [click for more]

Reviving a Peculiar Institution

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In a recent New York Times op-ed column, Thomas Ricks called for reinstating military conscription. He quoted Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who said at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival, “I think if a nation goes to war, every town, and every city needs to be at risk. You make that decision and everybody has skin in the game.” Ricks, ... [click for more]

Soldier of Empire

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Soldier, soldier, how you soar Aloft in that elevated status Reserved to those who trade In war and oppression. Soldier, soldier, do not fear; You’ll never hear an unkindness — Insulated from the truth Of murder and rapine. Soldier, soldier, may you take This blue-blood daughter’s hand? Honored would her father be To hear tales of empire. Soldier, soldier, how is it that Across the spectrum of politeness We speak of hope and ... [click for more]

The U.S. Military and Massacres

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The murderous rampage of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in Afghanistan has received much deserved media attention. Sgt. Bales’s shooting spree, killing 17 Afghan civilians, was quickly condemned by the Obama administration as a horrible incident and an aberration that was in no way representative of the “exceptional character” of the U.S. military. It is a matter of state ... [click for more]

Blue Angels Budget Blues

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The Navy's Blue Angels flight-demonstration team is in trouble. And not because their commander resigned earlier this year after flying his F/A-18 Hornet below minimum altitude at an air show in Virginia and causing a month-long safety stand-down. Headquartered at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, the Blue Angels have been flying and thrilling audiences for more than 60 years. The ... [click for more]

Veterans Day: Thanks but No Thanks

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Veterans Day honors those citizens who fought in the U.S. governments wars wars supposedly waged to preserve Americans liberty. Most Americans uncritically accept this last part, and believe they owe the U.S. military a debt of gratitude for their freedom and independence. This belief is so widely held that it has become a tenet of the country's civic faith. However, ... [click for more]

The Military-Industrial Complex: The Enemy from Within

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Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes ... known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.... No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst ... [click for more]

Reader Feedback

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A reader asked if we would post online reader feedback on my article “An Open Letter to the Troops: You’re Not Defending Our Freedoms.” Here it is: **** Thank you for your great article on the troops aren't fighting for freedom. I couldn't have said it any better. I don't know what it is with Americans that use this mantra of ... [click for more]

An Open Letter to the Troops: You’re Not Defending Our Freedoms

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Dear Troops: Yesterday — Memorial Day — some people asserted, once again, that you are “defending our freedoms” overseas. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those people are just repeating tired old mantras. The reality is that you are not defending our freedoms with your actions overseas. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Your actions overseas are placing our ... [click for more]

Should the U.S. Military in Iraq Adopt Israeli Methods?

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The Associated Press reported on September 18 that an Israeli military official declared that the U.S. military “is showing interest in Israeli software instructing soldiers on how to behave in the West Bank and Gaza.” The United States is looking at the Israeli policies as examples of how American soldiers can better handle a hostile population in Iraq. That may ... [click for more]

Black Hawk Down and American GIs

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The recently released movie Black Hawk Down raises interesting challenges to those who think theyre supporting American GIs when they support U.S. government decisions to send them into battle. In 1993, the Clinton administration sent U.S. soldiers into the capital city of Mogadishu, which was in the midst of a civil war, to capture a Somali warlord named Mohammad Farrah ... [click for more]