No, troops really aren't fighting for your freedom

A common refrain is that troops give us freedom. They really don't. They just don't. In theory they could fight in a war for our freedom, but that has rarely been done. The wars that have been fought in some way for our freedom of religion, speech, assembly etc are less than a handful. Of course the Revolutionary war was fought, in part, for our freedom.

In the War of 1812, we were invaded, but at best the war was fought for the freedom of American sailors not to be put in the British Navy. But, it didn't effect the average American in the least.

The Civil War, at least after Jan. 1st 1863, was fought in part for the freedom of those held in slavery. But, those who most repeat the refrain that wars are fought for our freedom, are probably the most likely to be defenders of the Southern Confederacy as something good and noble.

WWII, maybe, but unlikely the Germans could have ever invaded us if we never fought. They couldn't even invade Britain, less than 30 miles from the coast of France.

Now, this is not to say that troops couldn't potentially fight for our freedom, but they really haven't done so, at least in the last 200 years. Saying troops fight for our freedom, or that we should support them, is often a way to gain support of a war. Military defense contractors, for example, love people saying these cliches. Helps drive defense contracts.

I believe the greatest propaganda was when the name of the War Department was changed to the Defense Department, because at least War Department is honest. It's about war, not necessary defense.

The fact is, people want to believe that their military is all good and noble. I think the U.S. military has overall, done good things. We freed people from Nazi domination. We ensured South Korea didn't go over to those nutjobs in North Korea. We, on the other hand have supported thugs in the Cold War, such as the dictator Pinochet of Chile. But, we shouldn't lie to ourseves when talking about the military. Let's be honest.

Well, this column by a Tom Mullen explores the myths that troops fight for our freedom. He makes an excellent point that during a war, opponents of a war are commonly rounded up, or at least have their free speech rights violated or curtailed. So ironically, wars often lead to less freedom and not more. This was especially true during WWI, and the Cold War, such as McCarthyism. So, be sure to question anything that someone says, and don't be a sheep following patriotic correctness.