Patrick Elliott wrote:
> On 4/3/2010 8:18 PM, John VanSickle wrote:
>> Neeum Zawan wrote:
>>
>>> Besides, if you want to get soldiers to shoot Americans, just don't let
>>> them know they're Americans. I don't think it was ever a "strong"
>>> protection.
>>
>> I was in the U.S. military for twenty years. Anyone trying to turn our
>> military into a force for oppressing fellow Americans is going to have
>> to make radical alterations to our military's culture.

> Hmm. Like recent, but failed, attempts to replace more balanced 
> religious representatives with evangelicals, while actively excluding 
> other religions, by people that have been fairly clear that they don't 
> exactly think that a) all Christians, and especially b) non-Christians, 
> should necessarily have the same rights, or even, in some cases, 
> citizenship?
> 
> Yes, it would require a radical restructuring, but the nature of the 
> animal is that it is authoritarian driven, and teaches the people in it 
> to follow orders, so..

...and has recurring training on the topic of orders that are illegal 
and which must not be obeyed.  Every year the promotions testing covers 
topics like the Law of Armed Conflict, which prohibits targeting 
non-combatants, hospitals, houses of worship, and other assets which 
have no military value.

The shift to the all-volunteer military has affected our services in 
ways that most civilians do not appreciate, and this change is most 
certainly *not* reflected in the way that civilian news organizations 
report on the military.  "Do as you're told and don't ask questions" is 
not a valued idea in the U.S. military, and has not been for decades.

Regards,
John

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