bob-2000 said:
Also, cannon fodder? You know little about the military. Nobody is "cannon fodder".
Cannon fodder is one of the perils of command, knowing that even with cautious strategies, you will sometimes
often send units to their certain deaths in order that greater numbers might survive. It is part of the Hell with which we identify as war. Typically, such maneuvering doesn't place someone as
cannon fodder rather as a
feint or
distraction from the main attack. And there's incidents like that in WWII in which Patton ordered the
expenditure of troops if necessary to hasten a push in Africa, just so that he could humiliate Montgomery.
Our casualties in the IED [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror] concussion. Non-lethal casualties are grossly understated, and may number into the hundreds of thousands. Similarly, suicides after a tour or on leave are frequent, yet disregarded as casualties since the deaths in question did not occur on the field.
During
Iraqi Freedom it was Kurt Vonnegut who noted that the new troops in the new war were being treated
as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.[footnote]Vonnegut,
Cold Turkey, 2004[/footnote] The
cannon fodder status of the US armed forces according to the Bush administration was made clear in Donald Rumsfeld's
the army you have just war [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumsfeld#Return_to_government_.282001.E2.80.932006.29] fought in the defense of the United States, one of our allies or of an oppressed people (though it was falsely campaigned to the American populace as such, given the notoriously missing
weapons of mass destruction).[footnote]Those of you who are involved and better informed, please correct my errors and add or debate as you see fit.[/footnote]
Regarding the original question, I think the DoD has
every right to advertise to us, or to any demographic, really. It'd be pathetic of them to suggest
it's just like a game but more vivid, of the many advertising campaigns, the ones that get the best response (and seem the most truthful) are the
join us and we'll make you a badass or in some cases,
join us and play with our cool toys.[footnote]I never got the
Army of One slogan. Neither did most of the US, evidently.[/footnote] But unlike one's first drink or one's first cigarette,
joining the military is a significant life decision and I would hope anyone and everyone who considered doing so would reflect on the gravity of that decision, and the risk involved in joining. Interestingly, many anti-war activists simply go to schools and offer exactly this, a lesson on the risks of working for the military, which has proven more effective than gatherings chanting in the National Mall.[footnote]Myself, the Marine Corps wanted me bad when I was young, and my family talked me out of it. Probably would have been deployed in
Desert Shield if I weren't in intelligence writing reports. If I didn't wash out thanks to a DI making an example of me, I'd probably have been marginalized due to my naturalist ergo non-Christian outlook. I understand that there's a lot of pressure to convert [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Soldier_Fitness#Spiritual_Fitness] in today's armed forces.[/footnote]
238U.