Jubbergun wrote:
Anyone who says anything that retarded about the military has obviously never served and/or doesn't realize they're not living in <insert shit-hole 3rd world country here>.
This proves my point.
"Only we, the military, are qualified to make judgements about we, the military. Not the civilians, not the politicians, just us, who serve: the military."
Battletard wrote:
Anyone who thinks the military gets to choose is a fool.
Don't they? It wouldn't be the first time the military actively tried to subvert the democratic process, with varying levels of success.
-MacArthur committing insubordination on TV
-"The Revolt of the Admirals", in which the military leadership second-guessed the civilians about postwar military spending then tried to slander the President on false pretenses
-The military's deliberate efforts at misinformation and secrecy during the Vietnam War, which served to undermine the workings of the democratic system in evaluating the war
-Doing the same thing during the Iraq War
-The CIA killed President Kennedy because he was going to pull out of Vietnam, normalize relations with the USSR, pass civil rights legislation and cut the CIA's budget to zero
-The CIA tried to sabotage the 1972 election because they didn't trust or respect the democratic process
The Founding Fathers knew that powerful standing armies and democracy are incompatible. Nothing has changed since the days of Caesar and Cromwell. We might not see Petraeus crossing the Delaware, but the military will most definitely try to subvert the democratic process if they think their budget, their relevance, is at stake.
Because, you know, only people in the military are fit to pass judgement on the military. Not those civilians. Isn't that right, guys?
