The British have basically been defeated in the South

NRO ^ | 8/10/07 | Victor Davis Hanson

[madvlad]

Actually, we are.

We are still innovators. Peoples from many walks of life
and from many countries look to immigrate here legally.
Esp highly educated persons. (This is known as brain drain
wrt/ the country of origin). Technologically speaking, with what
the US keeps to itself, eg, defense-related tech, the US builds
huge gaps relative to the rest of the world. See the all-Isreali
fighter program, the all-Japanese FX fighter program, any
number of Russian air superiority programs, etc.

RE the US Army. The primary mission of the US military is
(to quote C Powell) to: 1) kill people and 2) destroy things.
We do this EXTREMELY well. Do you see nation-building
anywhere on that list? Furthermore, last time I studied
US military tactical doctrine, I discovered that the army is
intgrated w/ close air support in many instances provided by
the........ USAF. WOW!!! What a f*&^%^$ concept! I expect
that openness of gays in the military will be a case of
taking one’s life into one’s own hands. See Sean Penn’s character
in “Casualties of War” for reference.

Re Great American Corporations. Do they still have American
management? Do they still re-patriate capital to these
shores? Do American shareholders still obtain benefit?
And a large %age of many great American cos are owned by
institutional money managers, most of which are likely
American, investing for individual American investors as well
as for corp pension boards, many of which are...American.

Hmmm, the public schools here in Montgomery County MD
are such that people are willing to overpay for their homes
to get into a specific public school district such as Walter Johnosn,
Walt Whitman, Churchhill, Wooten, etc.

10s of millions of Americans believe that GBush yadayadayada.
10s of millions of Americans ALSO vote for Democrats in any election!
10s of millions of Americans also believe that the only path via which to
become wealthy is winning the Lotto or appearing on Survivor!
In short, 10s of millions of Americans are f&*&%$# idiots!!!! This
has not changed since PTBarnum mused that there is a sucker
born every minute or since HLMencken mused that no one ever went
broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
So, what’s your point?! There is nothing new here. Absolutely nothing.
This is par for the course. And attemnpting to smarten EVERYBODY
would be akin to trying to teach a pig to sing: It annoys the pig and
it cannot be done.

MV

[SergeiRachmaninov]

RE the US Army. The primary mission of the US military is (to quote C Powell) to: 1) kill people and 2) destroy things. We do this EXTREMELY well. Do you see nation-building anywhere on that list?

Frankly, I find your entire post a line of clay pigeons begging to be (easily) shot down.

But I don't tolerate tedium well so I will confine myself to your remarks about the military.

So Colin Powell said "yada yada yada." Are there a half dozen people on this forum who any longer respect or care what Colin Powell says?

And as to the use of the military for purposes other than killing people and breaking things...I have an old-fashioned view (that predates the I-am-going-to-call-the-shop-steward idea that is loose in the modern military) and that is that it is the military's role to do their best to accomplish whatever mission is assigned to them.

I am completely sick of hearing that the military does not/can not do: nation building, policing, border security, etc., etc.

I once was confronted by a young punk under my command in the military who refused to "show the ropes" of a message center operation to a newbie on the grounds that he had a certain MOS specifying his message center paper shuffling responsibilities and they did not include teaching or mentoring. Oh for the days when I could have had the arrogant punk shot....

If this most-educated, highly-trained military can do nothing but aim guns and shoot, they are being seriously over paid (and over praised).

[Beckwith]

They weren’t defeated — they surrendered.

[madvlad]

I’ll take your reply to indicate that you could not think of anything
better to say.

There are certain missions the military should never be asked to
undertake. Nation-building and puppet-support are two missions
that stand out. A third is most likely domestic application of
force except under the most extreme of circumstances, ie, civil
war.

Policing? In what respect? Having an armed soldier on every street
corner of Anytwon, USA? Having an armed soldier on every street
corner of Any Country, World?

MV