You mean there's a thread on our modern military actions, and you didn't invite me?
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Originally Posted by Ashley Weed
It's part of being an American, standing proud for who you are - no matter if you believe it is right or not. You are in this country, and you should stand by her for everything she is going through, and everything she is worth. I know the struggles all to well, and have great pride to be here in the glorious country - as I know others on here will have similar thoughts as I.
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One problem: not all of us are proud to be an American these days. And unfortunately, our President essentially represents every American citizen weather we like it or not. So if I go somewhere that hates the US, I'm automatically hated myself. And, it doesn't help that Americans tend to always think we're the best at everything. Problem number two: our military might isn't as great as we think it is, our sportsmen and women aren't the best, hell, we aren't even number one in technological advancement (believe it or not, we are far down the list). My point: I am proud of people, but not it's entity.
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Originally Posted by Bill Gold
Here are some of my feelings… I don’t think I would ever volunteer for the armed services. Combat doesn’t seem to be my calling in life. I sure as hell wouldn’t volunteer to go to war without some sort of undeniable evidence that my country and my way of life was at risk of being annihilated. I would allow myself to be drafted if another country was hell bent on destroying this country and it was “us or them.” But I will not allow myself to be drafted into the situation that we are in. I will not risk my life for a lie or an “intelligence error.” I believe very strongly that I am justified and right in feeling this way. If I’m sent to prison, then I will serve my sentence, but there’s always a way out of the country and I would probably explore that option first if need be.
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Now, I love military history, strategy, and technology. It's just who I am. And while being a fighter pilot would be wicked awesome (very cool, for those who don't speak New Englandese), I would never volunteer for the United States military (note that I only said United States). Now, one exception (and I don't think you'd call it an exception, as this would fall under "basic life"): if we were attacked (and even then, there'd still be some scrutiny on the definition of "attacked"). If me or someone close to me is physically threatened, I will defend. That's also just who I am (yay, hero complex!). That being said, I'll probably never be joining up. Of course, I suffer from one problem myself: I'd make a pretty decent soldier. I'm big (not to be confused with tall), I have good aim, and I know my tech. So that brings me to this next thing:
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Originally Posted by Cory
First of all, everyone is getting worked up over nothing. The draft will never pass. If it did, America as a whole would riot. The american public might support a draft uf say WWIII starts and the united states is directly threatened. I mean ships and planes coming towards our borders and our freedom is actually at risk, not the crap they feed us about our freedom being in danger from Saddam's weapons.
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Agreed. I personally don't think the draft would pass (although if it does, I'd love to see what those pro-war citizens think once they're the ones fighting). If it does, I'll be leaving this country for good (I hear Sweeden could use a FIRST team). A person should not be forced to fight for something that he doesn't believe in. Our country was built on fighting for what you believe in. Forcing us to fight for a cause we don't believe in is simply un-American, and downright hypocritical. And to be fair, I also don't think a draft should be done even if we were invaded. Again, if someone doesn't believe in the cause of defending ourselves, then they shouldn't have to fight it. Of course, if we were invaded, I'm sure we'd have plenty of willing volunteers to defend their homeland, so that's almost a moot point.
Conclusion: yeah, I'm not too big a fan of our government. We should not be in Iraq, I have mixed feelings on the invasion of Afghanistan, being in the Balkans was very questionable, and don't get me started on Vietnam. Now, my biggest point of the day: I turn 19 about a week before election day. I have a certain right. It's called voting. In case you couldn't tell, I'm not voting for Bush (and it should be noted that Kerry will probably get Rhode Island anyway, so I'll probably be voting for an Independent). If you are over 18 (and I know a lot of us FIRST veterans are), you gotta vote. And I'll even be frank on this. One vote doesn't matter. It's the voice behind that vote that matters. Make your voice heard.
So, how 'bout them Red Sox?