The public perceives soldiers as unadulterated heroes, and removes from them responsibility. They don't choose who they're fighting. They're giving their lives for our freedoms. They're beyond reproach. At least that's how they're perceived until a particular war falls from public favour.
The reality is that these people have made their choice: they made it when they enlisted in their nation's military, and they make it again each time they're involved in an operation. As difficult as it is to accept, and as dire as the consequences of insubordination may be, soldiers are responsible for their actions.
You ascribe to them courage and selflessness, qualities that necessarily entail free will and choice. Yet, confronted with negative attributions, you shield them by stating that they have no recourse – that they are victims of circumstance, thrown about by political machinations.
Then they are not brave.
Then they are merely mindless tools.
And of course, that is not what they are; but neither are they free from reproach. It's interesting that for all their inculcation and training, their repetition and routine, and their chain of command – all of which are designed to distance them from a sense of personal responsibility – many soldiers feel the full weight of their choices.
Supposedly, we spend these days remembering our soldiers and their sacrifices. In reality, we drink beer, attend barbeques, light fireworks, and engage in nationalism. And we keep killing.
Maybe you should think about what you're supposedly celebrating. Maybe these days would be better spent understanding your wars, your people, your world, and your enemies. Ignorance of such topics is bad enough, but a deliberate refusal to take them into consideration? That's pathetic; and it's the reason half these blasted wars begin.
But hey, spouting patriotic poems is a great contribution too.
:X
