One of the disadvantages of living a fantasy free life is that the truth always turns out to be worse than the fantasy the unpleasant truth replaces.

Mercenary soldiers fight on behalf of the group with the balance of political power. When government turns corrupt, mercenaries end up fighting for corrupt causes.  Soldiers then fight for certain members of the population and never get close to fighting for an actual freedom based cause.  Soldiers are not children. They take an oath to defend the constitution but generally don’t take the time to read it. As an adult, each soldier has to make personal moral decisions. Thinking the country is always right and that God is always on our side is an irresponsible posture to assume.

Immoral governments constantly send soldiers to fight immoral wars. An army can serve as a hit squad for billionaires. That is the essence of our Mideast campaigns.  Few Americans realize that in 1953 the Unites States overthrew the only democratically elected government Iran has ever had. This action was on behalf of the U.S. petroleum industry. Although we sent no troops, the coup was our initiative. Now we are at the end of a series of Mideast engagements, all of which have roots extending back to our belligerent act of 1953. Given that, it is hard to take the moral high ground in anything that has to do with Mideast policy.

Our soldiers today are mercenaries. Each one has a moral obligation to question what he is doing before expecting to be treated as a hero for participating in an immoral war.