Our Soldiers & Vets: MSW Bites The Hand That Feeds | National Catholic Reporter

Our Soldiers & Vets: MSW Bites The Hand That Feeds | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: Our veterans and active duty personnel signed up to serve in an all volunteer military because the nation had been attacked.  The prior generation went to Viet Nam because it was drafted.  Either way, they did not vote on where to go to fight and why or on how the war is conducted.  War is part of a larger American foreign policy that, sadly, is as beholden to our economic interests as it is to our security interests. (It was originally called Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) for a reason - although that did not work out so well.  We are at least less blatant then we were 100 years ago in the banana wars, where we sent troops to protect our interest in central American fruit.  The problem with militarism is not really militarism, it is Capitalism (and for my libertarian friends, I mean crony capitalism, not the free market - which does not need military protection).  The Church DOES have an opinion on that - especially under this Pope.  In this country, I believe the solution is to demilitarize but also redirect the defense industry toward space exploration.  Until you thow it a bone, militarism will continue to haunt us.