What is the Job of the Military?

2006-06-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

After reviewing much of the coverage of the Iraq war and the struggle to establish peace within the country, I have a question...

What is the job of a Soldier?

This is a question that has perplexed me of late.

Is the job of a Soldier that of a Policeman? No. This is why even the Military has a police force.

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Is the job of a Soldier to establish a government? No. This is why we have a separation of powers in the US Constitution. The Executive Branch through the President leads the military through civilian oversight. We even have laws like Posse Cumitatus that state very clearly that the US Military cannot operate against its own citizens for this very reason.

The job of establishing a government is that of the PEOPLE and their elected representatives through free and open elections - not the military.

Is the job of a Soldier to train the police force? No. This is the job of experienced professional CIVILIAN policemen and policewomen.

Is the job of a Soldier to train the judiciary? Absolutely No. This is why even the Military has a separate judiciary.

The job of a Soldier is to Kill the Enemy. Plain and simple. This is and always has been for what they are trained. They should be efficient in their duties, never questioning their intent, abilities or mission. Most, if not all of the problems we are facing today in all of our foreign “wars” is that we have the wrong people doing the wrong job.

The job of a Soldier is radically different than that of a Policeman. The job of a Policeman is to protect and defend life, limb and property, to investigate and defend a rule of law in the nation.

Confusion creates distraction. Distraction breeds distrust. Distrust leads to failure. Failure leads to Chaos. Chaos plays directly into the hands of the enemy.

Why is there not a contingent of national police professionals such as those from the LAPD, NYPD, and other decorated departments throughout the US or other countries training the Iraqi police force?

Why are we having Soldiers training civilian police officers when they have opposing missions?

If the goal of the iraqi people is to establish a similar government lead by their elected leaders, why is there not a contingent of advisors each from the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches of the US or other government on the ground in Iraq training their respective counterparts?

Why do we intend for the Soldier to be something they are not. They are trained to Kill the Enemy, do it well, do it quickly and return home.

What is this Blog About?

2006-05-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

This is a blog that deals with the USA War On Terror and our efforts to protect American lives, liberty and freedoms and our efforts to share these ideals with other peoples in the world.

Personally, I believe that Liberty is so valuable, so precious a commodity that it cannot be simply "given" to someone and that they must as a people rise up and take it for themselves.

All of the successful serious democratic reforms and individual freedoms have been because men & women of passion have taken up a cause and fought for it themselves.

A few examples -

The Magna Carte

The French Revolution

The American Revolution

The Right of Non-Land Owners to Vote

Universal Suffrage for Women

Civil Rights for All Races in America

I think that many of our problems involving our efforts to spread democratic reform are valiant and noble, but the people first must believe in the rightousness of freedom and liberty and be ready to seize it for themselves.

They themselves must see the true value and calculate the cost of seizing it. If we simply "give" it to them - how will they know the true "value" of liberty? Post your comments here or start a new topic by clicking "blog this" above. For questions on this or our other blogs email me at james@iqbio.net

"For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise." - Benjamin Franklin