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Manning is far more heroic than any other serving member of the Military-Industrial-Surveillance Complex. Shoot, this "war" isn't even declared so I'm unsure h
by ferdo 13y ago
Manning is far more heroic than any other serving member of the Military-Industrial-Surveillance Complex.
Shoot, this "war" isn't even declared so I'm unsure how he could even be accused of aiding an undeclared enemy.
- lolwutf 13y agoWhoa, whoa, whoa, hombre. To broadly estimate the heroism of every other serving member in any singular statement is foolhardy, at best. There are lots of good people doing good, heroic, insanely patriotic, admirable, and honorable things in that Military-Industrial-Surveillance Complex you describe. Don't let the mistakes and abuses of the top give you some feeling that the system and everyone in it is corrupt. That system is literally putting themselves in front of bullets right now to defend your right to have such misguided ideas. What are you doing today?
- toomuchtodo 13y agoDon't let the mistakes and abuses of the top give you some feeling that the system and everyone in it is corrupt. That system is literally putting themselves in front of bullets right now to defend your right to have such misguided ideas. What are you doing today? Careful there chief. I'm not sitting in a swank control room in Vegas killing innocent men and women via drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. No one is putting themselves in front of bullets for my rights. They're putting themselves in front of bullets for their own reasons, but not for me.
- bwaldrep 13y agoAgain with the sweeping characterizations. Why do you assume that every single person in the armed forces is corrupt? As someone with a brother and several close friends in the military, this attitude is disheartening. You are free to believe that the leadership or even large swaths of the military is corrupt, but you cannot honestly state that no one is putting themselves in front of bullets for your rights. I have personally met several who repeatedly face bullets and IEDs because of their belief that they are protecting the rights and safety of civilians back home. You may believe their actions are naive or misguided, but that doesn't mean that they are all mindless drones motivated by purely selfish reasons.
- lolwutf 13y agoThanks for your family's service! ('family', because everyone is uneasy when a loved one is away on duty)
- arjie 13y agoI think he isn't claiming that they don't believe it. He's saying that they're not doing what they think. I can fervently believe that I'm protecting American lives by slaughtering chickens in a yard, but that won't make it true.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoAs arjie stated, I don't think they're corrupt. I'm saying they're not serving my interests as a US citizen. My liberty isn't in peril, and if it were, I'd be the first to sign up with BDUs and rifle in hand (my brother served as a Marine). As I said, no one is standing in front of bullets for my rights. I'll stand in front of bullets for my own rights thank you, when the time actually arrives that my rights are threatened.
- bwaldrep 13y agoThank you for clarifying. While I still disagree, I can respect your opinion.
- lolwutf 13y agoWell, technically speaking if there isn't anyone signed up with BDUs and a rifle in hand, then your liberty would be in peril. I mean, if the US government and her lands were just up for whoever wanted to call dibs, I'd take it. That said, it stands to reason that the reason why your liberty isn't imminently in peril is because someone is already signed up and out there defending it. To restate everything in broad terms: there's lots of people out in the world that don't like us. Your liberty is always in peril. Do you want a totally anarchistic society, perhaps? I, for one, don't.
- scott_karana 13y agoYou make it sound like America doesn't have a large, well-off and well armed populace, with the backing of heavy industrial plants that can tool up for war. I'm not saying America should have no armed forces, of course, but don't you think they're a little excessive?
- lolwutf 13y agoPerhaps you philosophically disagree with the strategy of the upper management of our Military Operations - and rightfully so, IMO, on many counts - but it's a FACT that they are the ultimate line of defense for our nation's independence. And without someone willing to put themselves on the front lines where the bullets fly, (to use a tired cliche) we'd easily be speaking German right now. To take the stance that 'they're putting themselves in front of bullets for their own reasons, but not for me' is incredibly selfish and myopic. Your other option is to try living in a country with a ragtag militia and government with an organized-crime-level-of-corruption. Let me know how that works. And 'swank control room in Vegas'? You watch too many movies. :)
- toomuchtodo 13y agohttp://gruppodalm.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/drone-control-station.jpg http://gruppodalm.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/drone-control-... Swank.
- jlgreco 13y agoThe reasons they are killing people right now do not include "our nations independence", or anything resembling it. That is just the propaganda line they use to sell the military to children in high-schools.
- lolwutf 13y agoOn some things, yes (and I take the position of disagreeing with the military's management structures, here). On other things, no, definitely not. These are the actions that I consider heroic defense of our freedoms.
- cobrausn 13y agoOf the number of military members serving, what percentage do you think are drone operators? Are you still comfortable with that characterization?
- ferdo 13y agoWhen I see other members of the military putting themselves on the line like Manning did, they'll get my respect also. Going above and beyond is part of duty. I'd like to see more of it. Nothing will change until then. > What are you doing today? Working to pay taxes so the salaries of public employees and military personnel can be paid.
- kondor6c 13y agoThere are _many_ individuals of the military that have put their lives on the line and some unfortunately had it taken from them. Some have done heroic acts that have not been revealed and others that just haven't been recognized. Just because you disagree with why they were put there doesn't make their actions any less admirable. http://www.cmohs.org/recent-recipients.php http://www.cmohs.org/recent-recipients.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victoria_Cross_recipients_by_campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victoria_Cross_recipie...
- ferdo 13y agoBradley Manning put his life on the line and has essentially lost it also. He joined the military, saw that his organization was acting in a manner that was morally reprehensible and then did something about it. Of course, the same system replied in a manner that's just as morally reprehensible as Manning demonstrated. The danger of rationalizing evil through the old truisms of "Patriotism, Security, Etc" is that it can corrupt those that rationalize it instead of saying, "This has to stop."
- lolwutf 13y ago<reposted correctly as a reply to toomuchtodo's comment. see it there.> /noob
- ferdo 13y ago> it's a FACT that they are the ultimate line of defense for our nation's independence. It's a fact that the military-industrial complex exists to protect the military-industrial complex. Our nation's independence was sold to moneyed interests in the last century. > government with an organized-crime-level-of-corruption. We're getting there, military or not.
- lolwutf 13y ago> It's a fact that the military-industrial complex exists to protect the military-industrial complex. No it's not.
- Daishiman 13y agoReally? Ever seen a business purposely try to make itself go out of business?
- mpyne 13y agoGetting there??? You should have seen what the government was like with patronage appointments, or under Harding. The corruption was literally institutionalized.
- bambax 13y ago> they are putting themselves in front of bullets It seems most bullets actually end up in the guts of unarmed foreign civilians.
- bambax 13y ago> they are putting themselves in front of bullets It seems most bullets actually end up in the guts on unarmed foreign civilians.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago> That system is literally putting themselves in front of bullets right now A fine thing. Deserving of respect, in most cases. >to defend your right to have such misguided ideas. That is tripe, and it is wasted on me. It is so well worn, and despite that I remain unaware of any imminent threats to my personal freedom other than from the Military-Industrial-Surveillance (and also Prisons and Police) Complex.
- lolwutf 13y ago> I remain unaware of any imminent threats to my personal freedom other than from the Military-Industrial-Surveillance (and also Prisons and Police) Complex. As someone who identifies as fairly libertarian, I'll give you that. But it stands, to some degree, some aspects of the Military Operations of this country are necessary - and even supremely honorable in nature - in order for this country to exist as have whatever degree of freedoms we (still?) have.
- mpyne 13y agoIt was 'declared' by Congress in 2001 (see the AUMF), but either way it's not as if there's a DD Form which is issued daily to all servicemembers listing the enemies of the day. If they're flying jumbo jets into the nation's skyscrapers it's a pretty safe bet that they fall in the 'enemy' bin.
- ferdo 13y agoI was under the impression that Obama had ended the war in Iraq. How can Manning aid an enemy if there's no war going on?
- mpyne 13y agoThe same way Soviet spies aided the USSR even when we weren't engaged in 'kinetic warfare' with them? You keep pushing the idea that the only enemies you have are the ones you've declared war on, but that simply isn't the case in actual geopolitics.
- ferdo 13y agoThe only enemies I have are those that actually infringe upon my rights using force and fraud.
- mpyne 13y agoWell when they make you the reigning monarch then I'm sure the military will bow to your personal definition of enemies. Until then the people have spoken by ballot.
- ferdo 13y agoMy point is that I don't need politicians and professional warriors to tell me who my enemies are. > Until then the people have spoken by ballot. Are you so sure of that? http://www.blackboxvoting.org/ http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
- 13y ago
- jgalt212 13y agothat's a very good point, but there hasn't been an official Declaration of War since 1942 per the wiki (which is a whole nother issue, albeit a very valid one). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_war_by_the_Unit... Rachel Maddown recently came out with a book on this, called "Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power." http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/books/review/drift-by-rachel-maddow.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/books/review/drift-by-rach...
- saraid216 13y agoOne of these days, we're going to stop using the word "hero" just because there's a connection to the military. Hopefully, we'll stop using it as a magical synonym for "I like this person".