If what I say deserves to be taken seriously, it’s because I’ve taken the time out of my worthless sponge life as a concerned American civilian to form a worthy opinion. Which means that although it is my patriotic duty to afford men like John Kelly respect for his service, and for the grief he has endured as the father of a son who died for our country, that is not where my responsibility as a citizen ends. I must also assume that our military policy is of direct concern to me, personally. And if a military man tries to leverage the authority and respect he is afforded to voice contempt for a vast majority of Americans, if he tries to stifle their exercise of self-governance by telling them that to question the military strategy of our generals and our political leaders is a slight to our troops, it’s my patriotic duty to tell him to go pound sand. If we don’t do this, we risk our country slipping further into the practice of a fraudulent form of American patriotism, where “soldiers” are sacred, the work of actual soldiering is ignored and the pageantry of military worship sucks energy away from the obligations of citizenship. I wish I could staple this article to my friends' foreheads.Serious discussion of foreign policy and the military’s role within it is often prohibited by this patriotic correctness. Yet, if I have authority to speak about our military policy it’s because I’m a citizen responsible for participating in self-governance, not because I belonged to a warrior caste.
You should simply try to remind them that the United States has civilian control of the military, not military control of the civilians. The united states has a civilian, public servant, as the head of the executive branch. To suggest that military officials are allowed to dictate what is and isn't acceptable discourse seems authoritarian instead of democratic. if he tries to stifle their exercise of self-governance by telling them that to question the military strategy of our generals and our political leaders is a slight to our troops, it’s my patriotic duty to tell him to go pound sand.
So what is the correct action if a veteran criticizes my concern for foreign policy and our wars? I respect them that they served our country, but my opinion is still valid is it not?
Of course your opinion is still valid, but whether you want to continue with that conversation is completely dependent on person/situation. Most of the time it's just not worth pursuing.
We’re at war while America is at the mall.
Phil Klay is a gifted writer. His book of short stories, Redeployment, is the book I most associate with giving a soldier’s account of our ill-fated adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. A very talented, thoughtful author.