Confessions of a Chickenhawk

It's days like today, which is of course Veteran's day, when I some times regret that I didn't go into the military. Of course I come from a military family. My father was a marine, my eldest brother was a marine, and my other brother a naval academy grad, and naval officer. Every grandfather (Bit maybe one) of course in the Second World War.

I'm a supporter of what we're doing in Iraq, and of course what we did in Afghanistan. I also supported military intervention in Somalia and Bosnia, and of course Operation Desert Storm. I think its the good fortune of the rest of the world that the most powerful nation on earth is champion of freedom and representative government. And I think that means we have to be military strong for two reasons. First, because ultimately we find ourselves the enemies of every petty dictator, and oppressive party regime on the planet, simply because we represent an unacceptable way of life. Even the enemies of our enemies will turn against us. (which is exactly what we found against Saddam, Panama's Noriega, and a host of other tin-horn political gangsters. When your locked in a contest with another power house (USSR), after all you have an excuse. You're kind of busy. But if you have the power to set someone free, and you don't. Well that's almost as bad as enslaving them isn't it?

Secondly all those folks who live in tyranny know you have the power to free them, and you don't. So they doubt that you are what you say you are, and turn to other, violent creeds instead. That's been the case every time we've made the mistake. Ho Chi Minh came to us for help against French Colonialism, apparently Castro came to us against Batista, we didn't help the shittes and the Kurds the first time they rose in rebellion.

Came back to bite us every time.

I suppose I can take some comfort in the fact that the "Pen is mighter.." And that's the role I've chosen to play. But on day like today I always feel a little bit down on myself.