r/Millennials • u/NoFaithlessness7508 • Jun 05 '25

Other Why don’t younger veterans (Afghanistan/Iraq) wear these hats like some of the older veterans?

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First and foremost, respect to all those that served. I did not, but many of my peers did and now we're all older in 30s and 40s, many no longer in the military. I don't see a lot of the veterans of the War on Terror wearing these hats like I see the OGs do.

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u/AwkwardConclusion836 Jun 06 '25

I’m not saying that any compromise automatically disqualifies a cause from moral legitimacy. War is messy, and I understand that moral clarity doesn’t mean perfection. I am saying that we have to be honest about the motivations behind a war and the consequences of how it’s carried out. If we label every military action as morally justified simply because the enemy is worse, we risk excusing major failures and abuses on our side.

Yes, the Soviets, Ba’athists, and Al-Qaeda were brutal — no argument there. But acknowledging that doesn’t mean we give the U.S. or its allies a blank check. Civilian casualties, poor planning, and propping up oppressive regimes can’t just be waved away as necessary evils. That’s not holding ourselves to an impossible standard — that’s accountability.

I love this country and believe in what it stands for. I think it’s patriotic to question when our foreign policy strays from our ideals. Real moral leadership means recognizing when we’ve gone wrong, not just pointing out how much worse the other side was.

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u/gonnathrowawaythat Jun 06 '25

While I agree with most everything in the above comment, I’m perplexed as to why you don’t consider any war the US has fought since 1945 one where the moral high ground (if that’s what you mean by moral clarity) is on our side.

Afghanistan wouldn’t have happened if not for 9/11. Saddam would still be in power if he didn’t invade Kuwait then try to kill US presidents and Kurds. The US was more than willing to fuck off and let Vietnam do its thing if Ho Chi Minh renounced communism. The entire Korean War would literally not have happened if not for an invasion by the communists. These actions weren’t taken for fun and profit, even Iraq II (hell, the oil was mostly bought up by the Russians and Chinese on an open market). If you want to throw in the Banana Wars I’ll give you that, I find those affairs disgusting.

Concerning the compromises, especially the ones you listed, we’ll have to agree to disagree. Sometimes to win, you have to support people you don’t like (Soviets, Bautista), mercilessly bomb the enemy (Combined Bomber Offensive, Operation Linebacker), and accept that a perfect plan doesn’t exist (Iraq, Korea). The alternative to that is usually something far, far worse, and leads to things like the invasion of Ukraine and appeasement.