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[jamned]

Not too long after I went to China, I had a discussion with my then-roommate about soldiers. I said I couldn't abide by people who volunteered their services for killing. Government approved murder is still murder, I said.

Recently he sent an LA Times article to me, saying that this columnist makes some of the same points that I did. He's a lot

Comments

[arichi]

Like rosalindlancast says, he seems to be supporting the troops.

I have mixed feelings on the war and how the army should be used. But I do agree that murder is murder, whether it's done by a criminal, a doctor, or a soldier.

[jamned]

I've been told in China and Germany, there is mandatory military service, but this translates to community service in one of two ways: In Germany, individuals may opt to replace their required military service with community service. Volunteering at a retirement home, for example.

In China, the military is frequently performing public works, like bridge/highway building.

[rosalindlancast]

remember, army corps of engineer does most of the large scale engineering jobs home front.

The army does help US build public works. They're just not as often celebrated. This isn't China. US doesn't need to celebrate their military forces to the civilians to make civilians hate the military less.

China only reminds their civilians of the good deeds the military's doing, in hope that the civilians will forget all the people the military secretly killed/kidnapped/drugged.

...well, it seems America's heading that way too. ;D Look at our patriot act!!

[jamned]

From the newspaper articles I've read--it doesn't seem like the Chinese military is secretly killing or kidnapping people, at least not to the scale that it draws international attention. The Chinese police of various cities and provinces *do* draw this kind of attention, so I figure it could go either of two ways:
-the military does it also
-the police are the ones to handle (that kind of) dirty work

The students I talked to at Beida weren't (vocally) against the military. I suspect it might have to do with the mandatory military training?

[jamned]

I should probably add how that has any relevance to what you said :P

I haven't heard of our military do any such thing. They'll assist with emergencies like hurricane Katrina, but regularly they're doing their own thing.

[arichi]

I still don't see the relevance, but yes, different countries do have different ideas of what a military does.

[jamned]

Hm, it doesn't bear relevance. I wanted to comment on how the military should be used, and the thoughts must've jumped around too much in my head.

[rosalindlancast]

Hmmm... I'm not sure how often US military forces help out home front, but they do nose into other people's business a lot.

US Navy does a lot of open water patrols. Cargo ships like Evergreen, Hanjin, Maersk seek US Navy protections against pirates when they're out at sea. I actually think this is a good deed the military is doing.

Army, when they're not at war... I'm saying this because I think they're wasting their time in Iraq, well, when they're not at war they do distribute medical supplies in 2nd/3rd world countries.

It's very true that our military waste their time nosing into other countries' businesses, and get hated all around the world. However, this is all a part of US's secret hope to become the next empire that never sleeps. ;p blame neo-imperialism.

[jamned]

I think the three of us broke lj. I'm getting a bunch of delayed notifications and some doubles too.

I know that the US Armed Forces help out on the domestic side. From what I understand, it's mostly the National Guard, Navy, and Army Corps of Engineers. Still, this doesn't redeem the Armed Forces as a whole in my eyes, since it seems like the bulk of their funding and time goes towards killing or enforcing our international regime.