KMA-628

I think that there is another potential failing point to this idea that is not being discussed.

If we were to join the ICC (which, of course, we won't and I fully support), how would that change how we use our troops?

Some of you would be o.k. with us using our soldiers a whole lot less than we already do, but the future implications could be huge.

What if you need us and the situation is going to be sticky? What if the US hesitates helping someone out with our military might because we are worried about the fallback on our troops? That is a VERY LIKELY situation if we were to join up with the likes of the ICC.

Here is my analogy:

In our military, you have the elite. The people, like SEALS, rangers, etc., who are called in to do the dirty work that nobody else wants to do or can do. By the very nature of the work they do, they cannot be held to the same boundaries that the rest of the military is held to. To get the dirty work done, sometimes you have to get dirty.

It is really not publically talked about, but the "rules" for these guys are a lot more loose than they were for me when I served. Sure I risked my life, but in nowhere near the way or intensity these guys do/did every day. The idea is that when you force someone to "push the envelope' in the way we do with our spec. ops, you can't measure them the same as you would your average, run-oh-the-mill grunt.

Now, try and look at it this way, in a global sense.

The military for the rest of the world falls under the normal "soldier" role. The military for the US falls under the "elite". (stay with me here, I am not trying to say that everyone else's military is weak compared to ours).

For your everyday jobs, you call in your everyday soldier (i.e. other country's troops, UN, NATO, etc.).

To get the job done, you bring in the people who will get down and dirty and get the job done--the elite (i.e. the US). You don't want to know how they do it, but you just want it done.

There are many cases of this already, some known some unknown, where we had to come in and do the dirty work. You may not realize it, but there is a good chance that you sleep better because of it. Sometimes, our mere presence alone can accomplish this task. If a country/regime is getting out of hand, how do you think they react when we park a carrier off their coast?

Now, do you want the very people that may be needed to save your life or your way of life to feel limited? I wouldn't.

We have ways of taking care of our own. Is it a perfect system? Of course not, but for the most part it works. Could the ICC do it better? Of course not.

You may bitch about us now, but it wasn't too long ago (on more than one occasion) that the dirty work needed to be done and we did it without question, regardless of the geographic location or political persuasion of those we were helping. Who knows what the future holds. You may need us again and I really think that you don't want to look back at this and wish you hadn't done this--by then, it would be too late.