Do you support the missile strikes on Syria?

[Person Man]

Too early to tell. Americans may feel good about themselves for doing something against a tyrant who violated a standard that even Pol Pot and Idi Amin dared not violate. We do not yet know whether the strikes were adequate or whether they were reckless or misguided. If the President were someone other than Donald Trump I might not have this misgiving.

Only Donald Trump would do something exactly like this. Bush and Clinton got people on board first and Obama didn't when Congress wouldn't let him.

[Person Man]

Absolutely not.  Syria did nothing to threaten the US.

it threatens US allies. that must be worth something.

Yeah. If you do not think that the US should honour its alliances, you should advocate for withdrawing all alliances. Let's see how will the US economy do then.

Let's see how Estonias economy does when half the country is absorbed into Russia or when the Israeli settlers are forcibly expelled. I think you'd have more to worry about then us. American lives are worth more than the economy. These are life and death matters.

And in turn this will ruin our economy.

[Person Man]

Absolutely not.  Syria did nothing to threaten the US.

it threatens US allies. that must be worth something.

Yeah. If you do not think that the US should honour its alliances, you should advocate for withdrawing all alliances. Let's see how will the US economy do then.

Let's see how Estonias economy does when half the country is absorbed into Russia or when the Israeli settlers are forcibly expelled. I think you'd have more to worry about then us. American lives are worth more than the economy. These are life and death matters.

And in turn this will ruin our economy.

I'm so glad the price of milk and health insurance matter more to you than the life of a soldier. I'd rather live through the Great Depression and come to the brink of starvation than see more Americans killed. I suppose a lack of respect for human life extends beyond abortion with you people.

Using dead soldiers and bringing abortion into this? Are you a scarecrow salesmen? Sad!

[Person Man]

may i ask once again, why military types are usually always voting for right-wing types if those are usually even more likely to send them into major wars?

i totally GET sanchez's point, it sometimes just seems, hollow symbolism is more important for many soldiers too than questions of life and death.

Some have said that they are just soldiers because they can do what they are told, even if they are told to commit crimes. Maybe  this emphasis on bureaucracy and class makes the right more appealing to them? Or it could just be Vietnam is still a major motivator where both Democrats were accused of starting and losing that war.

[Person Man]

^ to you both, military members will only follow lawful orders. If it's not lawful, it will be questioned or overriden within the CoC. Most military vote for the conservative due to most of it being from the south although there is a large libertarian portion, liberal, etc but the military itself is not political, program favoring, etc aside but brass deal with both parties on those issues. Vietnam has no bearing on most of the modern military mindset, good or bad, although lessons learned have been applied somewhat to COIN.

There are some real weirdos down here...should I just attribute it to that, then?
And that most political leanings in the military basic ethnic voting patterns seen in the civilian world, where many southerners join due to the fact that the military provides the best opportunities down there? One of my coworkers who served said something to that affect.

[Person Man]

Can we end this misconception that we somehow "lost" the war in Vietnam?

It is definitely a perception. That is all that matters, really. Short-term, the people who we were killing took over the country there that were were defending. In the long run, we still enjoyed a lot of the economic benefits of Vietnam and are still allowed to go there. Maybe we "lost" the same way the Crusaders technically "lost".