I'm trying to think how to phrase this without being disrespectful, but yet get my point across, so I'll do this in steps to try and make it as clear as possible so it isn't mis-construed.
I'm grateful for those who serve to protect the U.S.
I don't understand why "The Few, The Proud" continue to serve a government that is completely corrupt and hell bent on destroying human rights right here on U.S. soil.
How can they invade a country knowing that it may not be for good?
Why havent more service men that have served this country stood up and said "Look - what you are doing isn't right"
My take on it is what others have already said. They're there to do a job, so who really cares what orientation they are, as long as theyre a good shot and have your back when needed.
But it just really frustrates me that more service men aren't standing up to the administration - current and possible future candidates and saying "What you are proposing isn't right - it isn't what we fight for and risk our lives for"
Why aren't service men with good service history standing up and saying "Why are we risking our lives so these hypocrites can do what we're fighting against?"
It just frustrates the shit out of me as these are the people that have more of a voice than the regular joe - yet no one says anything.
That's a hell of a lot of apples and oranges. But I will try to take a stab at it for you. At least from my point of view.
The military in general is like a culture in and of itself. IMHO the gay and lesbian service members served sacrificing their personal lives over their chosen profession, because of their dedication. It was very unfortunate, and I am glad they can serve without fear at least from the government (attitudes within the ranks will still probably be an uphill battle for them for a few years/generations).
Many people in the military do stand up to a point, when leadership starts going down the wrong path. However ultimately (in the case of the US) when you enlist or receive a commission you swear an oath and you are no longer a civilian, and at the end of the day you have to follow the orders of those appointed over you (regardless of whether they are a full of shit or not).
The only orders that you can "disobey" are an illegal or an unlawful order, such as violent acts or abuse of non-combatants, destroy protected targets (churches, hospitals, etc). The decision of the civilian government to invade country X for whatever reason is not open to debate. Whether you like it or not you took the oath and the paycheck, so you deal with it.
The hypocrisy is not solely restricted to the military or any branch of the military. I can point out any number of institutions that have greater levels of hypocrisy.
The US military does protect the government of which "we the people" decide to elect. If you think it is corrupt or it sucks then "vote", that's why we in the military (past tense in my case) bleed and die for you the citizen.
The President with the backing of congress made the decision to "invade"; not the soldiers, sailors, airmen or marines; not even the generals or the admirals. If "we" stood up and "rebelled" it's called "mutiny", which still punishable by jail and or death, dependent upon the circumstances of the charge.
Among the victims of those that did stand up or were sold up the river were GEN Shinseki and then later Secretary of State Powell.
