
Thank You for Being Expendable - whyenot
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/opinion/thank-you-for-being-expendable.html
======
analyst74
It's strange to me that people still held the view that soldiers fight for
their countrymen's freedom. It's not like Vietnam or Iraq were on their way to
invade America in any foreseeable future.

Wars are fought for profit of the few, lives of soldiers are just part of the
expense, which they try to minimize through propaganda and false promise of
future care.

~~~
wwwwwwwwww
talk to any soldier about this and they will acknowledge that america's
security is not directly threatened in todays world, and believe that the
military mostly acts as a "preventative force" to keep it that way.

------
jseliger
Brilliant article. I would add that Tom Ricks's book _The Generals_ is an
excellent complement to this piece (I wrote more about it here:
[http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/the-generals-tom-
ri...](http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/the-generals-tom-ricks/) ).
Since Korea we have developed the habit of lauding generals who lose wars,
instead of finding other duties to them.

A general or Secretary of Defense who screws up gets sweet six-figure
"retirement" and widespread respect. He is at little if any risk of personal
harm. A private who screws up, or just gets screwed by the system, dies.

It is worth contemplating what that asymmetry means.

~~~
tcopeland
"The Generals" also shows up on the UK Ministry of Defence reading list (in
the "partners" section
[http://militaryprofessionalreadinglists.com/reading_list/19-...](http://militaryprofessionalreadinglists.com/reading_list/19-defense-
academy-of-the-united-kingdom#partners)), so his suggestions are getting some
official showing in military circles.

------
maxxxxx
I don't understand why there is a VA. Just give them Medicare or another
health insurance. I can see a need for facilities that can treat combat
specific injuries but I guess most veterans can be served by the regular
health system.

~~~
zitterbewegung
Name a health care provider that would cover them then? Which health care
provider would you want to take that kind of assumed risk?

~~~
gnaritas
> Name a health care provider that would cover them then?

Any of them would, it's required by law; there are no more pre-existing
conditions.

------
klunger
"If you want to know what the price of freedom looks like, go to a V.A.
waiting room — wheelchairs, missing limbs, walking wounded, you get all of the
above."

That quote just really drove it home for me.

~~~
icambron
That's actually the price of warfare. We have a habit of just pretending
everyone's being killed and mutilated for freedom because it's a lot more
comfortable that way. Makes their sacrifice seem worthwhile and not just a
horrifying waste. Maybe in some cases it's even true, but it's not true in
general, and I'd even go so far as to say it hasn't been true of the last,
say, 60 years of US history.

We should take care of our vets, but we should also stop making so fucking
many of them.

------
wmgries
Why don't we just pay for veterans to go to normal hospitals? Why on earth
would we think these government run hospitals would work?

~~~
venomsnake
Just for a start veterans have specific injuries (both mental and physical)
that general hospital will be hard to have the expertise to deal with.

We are talking about people that freak out/enter combat mode when they see a
garbage can or a box near the road. Why - because for them for 10 years it has
been a real and present danger. And those are the very mild cases.

~~~
seizethecheese
If the VA didn't exist hospitals would have the appropriate resources,
especially those near bases.

~~~
crpatino
Actually, I think the opposite would be truth.

If the VA didn't exist limited resources would get spread too thin among
regular hospitals, though maybe not as badly in those near bases.

------
ilaksh
Kind of a downer man. I'm trying to have a BBQ over here. Maybe talk about
depressing things after my day off.

~~~
autodidakto
Please don't be alarmed by the fallout of war. The President (past, present,
and future) wants you to go back to shopping and sportsball.

