Happy Memorial Day!

I'm usually out of town on the short holidays, but with my wife transitioning back into medical school and myself having just started a new job, we've decided to stay in town this year. Today, along with a few other tasks I've had to put off for awhile, I'll be doing a long-delayed and much-needed upgrade of the main computer at home. Considering the fact that there is invariably something that goes awry with those and the fact that I plan to celebrate Memorial Day by at least firing up the grill this evening, I may or may not post again today.

In the meantime, I have finally gotten around to reading the Alex Epstein piece on "What We Owe Our Soldiers" that I keep running into on the other Objectivist blogs. It is omnipresent for a good reason: It is quite good and brings up some issues that sorely need to be aired today.

First, Epstein reminds us why the American soldier fights.

For an American soldier, to fight for freedom is not to fight for a "higher cause," separate from or superior to his own life--it is to fight for his own life and happiness. He is willing to risk his life in time of war because he is unwilling to live as anything other than a free man. He does not want or expect to die, but he would rather die than live in slavery or perpetual fear. His attitude is epitomized by the words of John Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier in the Revolutionary War: "Live free or die."

And second, after reminding us that the soldier just as much deserves the freedom we enjoy because of his efforts, Epstein addresses two related issues that have bothered me for a very long time: The misuse of our military for missions unrelated to our self-defense, and the crippling rules of engagement our soldiers are needlessly constrained by.

In addition to being sent on ill-conceived, "humanitarian" missions, our soldiers have been compromised with crippling rules of engagement that place the lives of civilians in enemy territory above their own. In Afghanistan we refused to bomb many top leaders out of their hideouts for fear of civilian casualties; these men continue to kill American soldiers. In Iraq, our hamstrung soldiers are not allowed to smash a militarily puny insurgency--and instead must suffer an endless series of deaths by an undefeated enemy.

I have little to add, except to recommend this essay if you haven't already read it. If our soldiers are willing to risk their lives in defense of freedom, then we should ask them to risk their lives only for that purpose and we should make it as easy as possible for them to accomplish this purpose.

My thoughts are with our troops on this Memorial Day.

-- CAV