"without them, we would not have the liberty of typing these words right now"
Self-deluding, flag-waving bullshit - virtually all wars since the end of WW2 have been ones of aggression and aquisition on the part of the West. They have been fought for territorial and political influence and the control of oil, and almost exclusively waged against 3rd world countries.
Where we haven't been directly involved we have poured money into some of the most monsterous regimes in history, Bartista, Pinochet, Papa Doc, Ky, Papadopoulous, the Zionists, the Saudis, the Contras.
In fighting these wars the West has indulged in large-scale war crimes (napalm, Agent Orange, phosphorous, land mines, internment without trial...) and has re-ivented the language to attempt to make these crimes acceptible - 'extreme rendition' (torture), 'collateral damage' (massacre of civilians), not forgetting good ol' 'friendly fire' (slaughtering your own side) .... but as OD says, it's acceptible as "we put our sins in the front window for everyone to see" - oh - that's all right then!!! (Sounds to me as if the Yanks consider themselves strong enough not to give two fucks what people think of them"
"Every soldier who goes out to fight believes he is fighting to preserve his own people,"
Equally bollocks - ranking soldiers are there for a whole bunch of reasons, the least of them ideology.
The army is being sold here as a career move - "join up and get a trade".... It was not too long ago that you could go into a pub in Scotland and read on the beer mat "Unemployed - join the army" - they forgot to add "and get sent to Northern Ireland or the Falklands and get blown to pieces".
Jim Carroll