Why I Chose The Gun

patentesq

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This speech by Gen. Peter Van Uhm (Netherlands Chief of Defense) hits the nail on the head of why soldiers do what they do. I highly recommend that anyone contemplating serving in our Armed Forces, and those who have already served, should watch this speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAsM1vAhW0

I think this pretty much sums up things nicely.
 
That was great. I wish all the people who protest war would watch that and let it open their eyes.
 
He makes a lot of good points.



(I am leery of the idea that governments should have a monopoly of force...given the history of the 20th century in particular)
 
Great video. "Until That Day Comes" was a great line.
"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"
George Orwell
 
That was great. I wish all the people who protest war would watch that and let it open their eyes.

Open their eyes to what? The notion that war is a good thing? That war is something to be proud of? That they're wrong for thinking mayhem and death are repugnant? There's nothing wrong with being against war.

Someday, if you ever fight in one, you'll likely find as many of us have that war is nothing to aspire to. It's neither neat nor clean in either the physical or moral sense.

He makes wonderful points, but even he admits that war is ugly and those of us who make it our business in life have to do so only because that day hasn't come when we can eradicate our darkest ills without bloodshed.
 
Open their eyes to what? The notion that war is a good thing? That war is something to be proud of? That they're wrong for thinking mayhem and death are repugnant? There's nothing wrong with being against war.

Someday, if you ever fight in one, you'll likely find as many of us have that war is nothing to aspire to. It's neither neat nor clean in either the physical or moral sense.

He makes wonderful points, but even he admits that war is ugly and those of us who make it our business in life have to do so only because that day hasn't come when we can eradicate our darkest ills without bloodshed.

Agreed. All of us are prepared to go to war - to stand for our principles, our security, and our way of life - but the protesting of war itself is not what we're all against.

Personally I have supported the missions of both Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe we made the right decisions in regards to going to war. On the other hand, my political beliefs as to the conduct of both wars is different, but they're views I mostly keep to myself.

When I see people protesting the war, I see two different types. The first is those who don't support the mission whatsoever - those folks get on my nerves, because despite what they say of their support for the military, if they don't support my mission and recognize that what I am doing is important, then they're being hypocritical and don't really support me (again, this is my personal opinion). In this case, I would agree with you caleb, that people in this group should watch this video, or read things like this - to understand that things like guns and the military are a source of peace - at best a deterrent, and at worst, an answer to conflict when all else fails.

The second group I see out there is the group that recognizes our need to fight, but has grown weary of our sacrifice and is doing their best to find a way to exit the war without compromising our mission. I don't know how exactly to describe these guys, but I hope you get what I'm saying. They recognize the need for war but also that there have got to be better ways of going about this then what we've done so far. Unfortunately this group tends to just get thrown into the first one and are misunderstood.

Now, I know there are some folks here who may just outright disagree with all of our reasons for going to war in Iraq or Afghanistan, or who will take issue with my first point (not supporting the mission is not supporting the military). I'll just reiterate on the point that this is once again just my personal opinion and how I feel when people criticize the mission that I've signed up to do. Take that as you will.
 
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This speech by Gen. Peter Van Uhm (Netherlands Chief of Defense) hits the nail on the head of why soldiers do what they do. I highly recommend that anyone contemplating serving in our Armed Forces, and those who have already served, should watch this speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjAsM1vAhW0

I think this pretty much sums up things nicely.

Agreed that all who contemplate serving should watch and additionally, those who recruit for our armed forces look first for those who appreciate this concept.

As many threads here talk about wanting to serve our country, really we all need to be reminded why we want to serve our country - it has the great principles of rule of law and democratic control of the government - and we need to be reminded why our armed forces are great - that they operate in a way the promotes our principles of rule of law and democracy.

Our young men and women have grown up with a more perfect environment than the days of our youth when everyone's rights didn't get the same enforcement of the law. They do want to spread that to the rest of the world, which is laudable, but as we see they are frequently frustrated with the appearant lack of progress in the places we have been of late. They may not appreciate the strengths and limitations of the gun in doing this.

General Van Uhm spoke to others who took up other instruments to improve society defending his tool of choice and demonstrated the respect for the limitations of the tool.

I think both those wishing to serve AND the greater society would benefit from having the same understanding of the role of the gun in this goal.

Thanks for sharing! :thumb:
 
He makes a lot of good points.



(I am leery of the idea that governments should have a monopoly of force...given the history of the 20th century in particular)

That's why the second amendment exists here... The primary intent of the second amendment is not to allow hunting, say, but to keep power squarely in the hands of the people. People can only have power when armed and dangerous... :eek:
 
That's why the second amendment exists here... The primary intent of the second amendment is not to allow hunting, say, but to keep power squarely in the hands of the people. People can only have power when armed and dangerous... :eek:

The right to bear arms is quite different than what is a permissible or impermissible USE of arms. To the disappointment of many skinhead militia groups or other disgruntled citizenry, the use of arms against the sovereign is NOT permissible. It is the sovereign which determines the difference between the justified and unjustified use of force.
 
The right to bear arms is quite different than what is a permissible or impermissible USE of arms. To the disappointment of many skinhead militia groups or other disgruntled citizenry, the use of arms against the sovereign is NOT permissible. It is the sovereign which determines the difference between the justified and unjustified use of force.

I'm not implying that in any way. I'm merely repeating what our founders believed.
 
Do you mean the Sovereignty? We gave up our Sovereign in 1776.:thumb: I know that in legal terms they may be interchangeable as a duly elected government.
 
Open their eyes to what? The notion that war is a good thing? That war is something to be proud of? That they're wrong for thinking mayhem and death are repugnant? There's nothing wrong with being against war.

Someday, if you ever fight in one, you'll likely find as many of us have that war is nothing to aspire to. It's neither neat nor clean in either the physical or moral sense.

He makes wonderful points, but even he admits that war is ugly and those of us who make it our business in life have to do so only because that day hasn't come when we can eradicate our darkest ills without bloodshed.

I agree. What I meant was they would open their eyes and see that war is not about killing people, but protecting people.

When I see people protesting the war, I see two different types. The first is those who don't support the mission whatsoever - those folks get on my nerves, because despite what they say of their support for the military, if they don't support my mission and recognize that what I am doing is important, then they're being hypocritical and don't really support me (again, this is my personal opinion). In this case, I would agree with you caleb, that people in this group should watch this video, or read things like this - to understand that things like guns and the military are a source of peace - at best a deterrent, and at worst, an answer to conflict when all else fails.

The second group I see out there is the group that recognizes our need to fight, but has grown weary of our sacrifice and is doing their best to find a way to exit the war without compromising our mission. I don't know how exactly to describe these guys, but I hope you get what I'm saying. They recognize the need for war but also that there have got to be better ways of going about this then what we've done so far. Unfortunately this group tends to just get thrown into the first one and are misunderstood.

I was talking about this first group when I replied. I'm sorry I didn't add more detail at the time.
 
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