From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Wed Aug 28 2002 - 07:57:01 MDT
>From: "Technotranscendence" <neptune@mars.superlink.net>
>>Brian D Williams talon57@well.com
>> I am a former member of the U.S. military, and
>> as anyone can tell you there are no X-Marines,
>> only former Marines.
>Willingly or were you drafted?
Enlisted, I was in bootcamp during the fall of Saigon and am
classified as a Vietnam-Era Veteran.
>That goes for Harry S. Truman too -- and the members of the 81st
>Congress' Committee on Foreign Relations who held a meeting in
>1949 wherein the intention was to only have NATO last 20 years
>with reduced American commitments all along. General Omar Bradly
>testifying before this committee believed that US troops wouldn't
>be in Germany for the full twenty years of the pact. (See Ted
>Galen Carpenter's _A Search For Enemies: America's Alliances after
>the Cold War_, chapter 1, "NATO: A Cold War Anachronism" and the
>references therein.)
I would point out that you said a decade, your reference say's they
thought 2 decades, and any government program without a sunset date
included will never die, it has to be killed.
>> I am both a Citizen and a Veteran, and put 4
>> prime years of my life on the line so you could
>> express your opinion, so express away...
>Unless you fought in either the War of Independence or the War of
>1812, you claim is exaggerated. I don't recall the last time US
>territory was invaded in the last fifty years... (I was going to
>write 150, but Japanese Imperial Forces took the American
>territory of the Phillipines. Even this only happened after a long
>period of provocation from the Roosevelt Administration. See
>Thomas Fleming's _The New Dealers' War_ and Robert B. Stinnett's
>_Day of Deceit_. This does not absolve the Japanese government of
>that time for its crimes, though it shows it was a dance between
>two partners with one heavily choreographing the other.)
You don't wait for things to reach your shores if you're smart.
In 1979 China jumped on Vietnam, and North Korea underwent a troop
movement that indicated an impending attack, and we went to red
alert. Since North Koreans were very superstitious about having
Marines around, every one they could find was rushed to Korea and
the front.
In the morning I was laying on a beach in the Philipines at nearly
90 degrees, by nightfall I was walking guard with a loaded M-16 on
the DMZ at subzero temperatures with an armed North Korean soldier
matching me step for step less than 50 yards away.
So yeah, I think I was a lot closer to possibly dying for my
country (although my plan was killing for my country) and our way
of life than you give me credit for.
The Koreans, possibly the most honorable people on the planet,
thanked us profusely every time they encountered us. They were
convinced our presence prevented the attack.
>No offense, but I don't believe the US military has been defending
>freedom at home so much as engaging in adventures abroad for the
>lastfive decades -- or longer, if you look closely at the origins
>of US involvement in both world wars. Of course, most of the
>blame for this lies with bad policy and bad goals. Defense does
>not require far flung bases, complicated alliances, and undeclared
>wars in places most citizens and politicians (and I bet troops)
>haven't even heard of.
Dan, I clearly don't agree, but have a nice day anyway and don't
worry, your Marine corp (along with the rest ;)) are on duty.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
SBC/Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
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