Some people just don’t get it.

This great nation is a bloody mess. That’s right; the United States of America is a great big bloody mess. We have Dick, Don, and Doof running things with the incompetent Doof as Commander in Chief rounding out the stooges; but I’m damn proud of this country anyway. Please notice that I said I am proud of the United States of America, our nation, our country. (I’m actually ashamed of the stooges.)

I’m sure that you’ve heard time and again that “democracy is a messy business” and of course it is. We all know that. I just said it’s a bloody mess and Dick, Don, and Doof are heading it up so you know it’s a mess. But I didn’t make those statements to rehash the old adage. I made those statements to make a very different point and here is that point.

The United States is a country that makes mistakes, lots of mistakes, more mistakes than I care to think about, and it does a lot of things I wish it wouldn’t do. But, I must also say that it has done and does a lot of things that I’m damned glad for and proud of. The United States joined in World War I and World War II and helped win those wars against some very bad people. The United States was responsible for the Marshall plan that rebuilt Europe and it was the dominant power during the Cold War helping hold the line until the old Soviet Union collapsed and China was somewhat tamed. The United States has done a lot of things correctly but it has also done a lot of things incorrectly. Depending on who you talk to we did or didn’t botch the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam Conflict. Depending on who you talk to we did or didn’t botched innumerable other foreign adventures and misadventures. All of this is true to some extent or another but there is another truth buried in all of this.

To me the simple reality is that the United States, for what ever reason, continues to strive and struggle, making mistakes and having successes, but always trying to move forward to a better tomorrow for themselves and as often as not for the rest of the world too. Now you may or may not agree with me and it really doesn’t matter but there is an even deeper point I want to make and that is about a subject that I always come back to. That subject is the United States military and the American soldier.

It is my belief that, in all of our adventures in foreign affairs, the United States military’s greatest value has been and is in its use as a tool of foreign diplomacy. I believe it was best said by Theodore Roosevelt when he said, “There is a homely old adage which runs: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." If the American nation will speak softly, and yet build and keep at a pitch of the highest training a thoroughly efficient navy, the Monroe Doctrine will go far.” America has too often ignored this sage advice from, what I believe was, one of our greatest presidents. We would be wise to reflect on that and tailor our future endeavors accordingly. What must not be lost in all of this though is the American soldier. American soldiers have been serving their country for over two hundred and twenty nine years. They have done everything asked of them consistently and courageously. They have stuck by this nation through every endeavor, adventure, and misadventure in her history. The latest misadventure included. They may belly ache and cry and they may praise and smile but they always stick it out and get the job that they are asked to do done. Sadly some soldiers go bad and do bad things and some just crumble under the responsibility. Some soldiers sacrifice a part or all of themselves and some serve simply and steadfastly while others show courage that is almost unfathomable but through it all the American soldier has always been there for this nation.

Now let’s talk about the military and soldiers today. I don’t like George W. Bush and I think he is an incompetent blemish on the posterior of the nation. I don’t like the conflict in Iraq and I believe many soldiers do not like the conflict in Iraq but they are there because George W. Bush, on behalf of this nation, sent them there. They are there carrying out the mission given to them by the Commander in Chief. We may not like this but we, as a nation, must face the fact that our system of government has placed George W. Bush in the position of President and Commander in Chief and as a result he has taken this nation into a conflict which I believe, as do many other Americans, to be illegal.

In light of what I have written above I would ask you to consider the position the American soldier is in. The soldier must, by oath and law, go where, and do what, his or her Commander in Chief says. So when you sit there, angry about what is happening in Iraq or Afghanistan or any other part of the world where the Commander in Chief has sent the soldiers, do not be angry with the soldiers. It is not the soldier’s fault but ours and the reason it is our fault is because it is our government. It is our system. Those in the Congress and the Senate and the Whitehouse that make up that government are there because we, the American people, put them there. If we want these things changed it is our responsibility to change it. I would also suggest that it is disingenuous to suggest that well it is not my fault because I voted for Sam or Bill or Sue. I would suggest that just voting isn’t enough. Enough is when you put all of your available and a little more energy into changing things. If we are willing to ask our soldiers to put their lives on the line for us then I believe it is our responsibility to put our everything on the line for the soldiers.

One last thought. Soldiers are ordered into combat. They are there by law and oath. Once there, they have no option but to fight. It is not an, I’d like not to, kind of thing. You either fight or die. Think about it.

Those Are The Sergeant Majors Thoughts On That.