Dialog:Fighting for Freedom

Some stuff I disagree with in Essay:Fighting for Freedom:

Soldiers—most of whom were teenagers when they entered the military—are more victims of statist indoctrination in the “glory” and “heroism” of warfare than they are culprits.
 * It is true that they were victimized by being forced to sit in those classrooms and listen to that indoctrination, but that is not an excuse for volunteering to help wage wars of aggression. Nathan Larson (talk) 08:40, 11 November 2012 (MSK)

'To begin with, wars have always reduced'' individual liberty, not only during but after the wars. The American Civil War was conducted not to free slaves, but to aggrandize state power, thus restricting liberties.'''
 * Always? Did the American Revolutionary War reduce individual liberty? What about the Bangladesh Liberation War? Even the American Civil War led to the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (adopted in 1865). Nathan Larson (talk) 08:40, 11 November 2012 (MSK)

In case these earlier episodes of organized barbarity are too distant for you, recall how quickly and easily the Bush administration was able to greatly expand the American police-state with such measures as the Patriot Act, the creation of a Department of Homeland Security, and the arbitrary holding—without trial or contact with family or attorneys—of virtually anyone the state wishes held.
 * Hardly anyone arrested in America is held for long without trial or contact with family or attorneys. Nathan Larson (talk) 08:40, 11 November 2012 (MSK)

How can it be seriously entertained that soldiers “fight for freedom?” They were unable to secure even their own freedom from the state.
 * They were unwilling, not unable. With the exception of those who were conscripted, they did not have to sign up to be soldiers. Nathan Larson (talk) 08:40, 11 November 2012 (MSK)