Micah,
I would agree that the concept of military is a necessary evil. But as a general rule men in military are not evil. I can't speak for the Air Force, but I was an platoon leader in an Airborne outfit and we didn't pump our men full of hate/propaganda. But at the same time, we also conditioned men into accepting death as "part of the package of war." Kind of hard to explain in the context of Axiom forum!
I think the common misconception of civilians and non-combat military people is that "soldiers will comply with any order" and that's wrong. They are legally bound to DISOBEY unlawful orders.
We train our men to follow lawful orders because combat units don't have the luxury of time. That's what it really comes down to. We can't debate about "taking a hill." If you do, others who are depending on your unit will die.
Of course, with any group of human beings, you'll have murderers, rapists, and molesters. After all, military is just a sampling of people in a society with murderers...etc.
I just get tired of liberal depiction of military types who are rabid baby killers, molesters, maniacal killers. I guess that's my net/net message.
