I've never been in the military and I was too young during the cold war to speak from experience so all this is based on what I've learned and opinion. I am one of those having a problem making that jump in logic.

The choice to join the military is just that, a choice. Since our military is made up volunteers it's comprised of people who made the conscious decision to join, they weren't forced into it. It's really hard for me to believe that an individual can sign up without having a basic understanding of why we have a military, the way it operates and what it's used for. War is it's the main objective and discipline keeps it a cohesive well-oiled machine. The military is based on rules, regulations, teamwork and leadership. You can't have political demagogue's running around voicing their political opinions and verbally disagreeing with the commander and chief and expect to keep a unified fighting unit. If you're not conformable to the rules of the military and you're not willing to put your life on the line at a moments notice then maybe it's not for you, so don't join, it's as simple as that. I've also seen some try to compare the military to a corporation, when in fact they are two totally different entities. Even though some aspects of the two are similar, the ultimate goals and objectives between the two couldn't be more different.

Don't get me wrong here I appreciate yours and others service to our country, but it was your choice to do so, you weren't forced into it. I guess the reason I have a problem making that jump in logic is because I knew what the military was about. At the time I wasn't into all that rigid discipline, and didn't want to give them four years of my life so I decided it wasn't for me. I decided to take a different path in life which was my choice. I guess the bottom line is that we all have to live with the choices we make just like Kerry is living with his past and Bush is living with his decision to invade Iraq.

In my opinion John Kerry is just another politician that really could careless about the voiceless soldier. He's just saying what needs to be said in order to get elected and satisfy his base. He was all for taking action in Iraq just as everyone else was, even Clinton wanted Saddam Hussein gone. They all saw the same reports and all agreed SH was a menace and needed to be dealt with. The problem is that 9/11 happened when Bush was in office, who's to say that if Gore were POTUS now and had the same intelligence he wouldn't have done the same? I know I'm speculating here, but 9/11 was an event that changed the US. I'm not trying to defend Bush and his actions, but we need to understand that our leaders aren't gods that can foresee the future they are human being that make mistakes just like the rest of us.