travelerru
01-12-2012, 02:51 PM
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287960/ron-pauls-appeal-among-military-david-french#more
My apologies if this has already been posted.
David French of the NRO takes crack at explaining Ron's military support. While he doesn't agree with Ron, he definitely makes an attempt to explain why many in the military do support him.
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A fact that many of Ron Paul’s supporters mention to rebut claims that he is dangerous on national security is his overwhelming financial support from the military, and it’s true. While I don’t know the most recent numbers, as of mid-2011, he had received more money from service members than Barack Obama and all other Republican challengers combined. We’re not talking about large amounts of money (soldiers don’t make enough money to be big players in campaign finance), but still, the message seems pretty clear: Many members of our military are dissatisfied enough with what they perceive as the national-security status quo that they’re willing to invest in Ron Paul.
This support is inexplicable to many conservatives. Yet how many pundits, activists, and Republican leaders have had a candid talk with an experienced infantry NCO or company commander? Certainly many are well-connected with high-ranking members of the military command structure in Washington and have maybe even visited “downrange” on occasion, but have they gotten to know the troops?
If they had, they would have seen that years of war in the midst of the broken and dysfunctional societies of Iraq and Afghanistan have made soldiers remarkably (and understandably) cynical about the region. Simply put, preaching nation-building and democracy is one thing, fighting to make it happen is another thing entirely. In my experience serving with an armored cavalry squadron during the Surge, soldiers tended to fall into one of three general camps (these are rough generalizations, obviously, but still instructive):
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http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287960/ron-pauls-appeal-among-military-david-french#more
My apologies if this has already been posted.
David French of the NRO takes crack at explaining Ron's military support. While he doesn't agree with Ron, he definitely makes an attempt to explain why many in the military do support him.
----
A fact that many of Ron Paul’s supporters mention to rebut claims that he is dangerous on national security is his overwhelming financial support from the military, and it’s true. While I don’t know the most recent numbers, as of mid-2011, he had received more money from service members than Barack Obama and all other Republican challengers combined. We’re not talking about large amounts of money (soldiers don’t make enough money to be big players in campaign finance), but still, the message seems pretty clear: Many members of our military are dissatisfied enough with what they perceive as the national-security status quo that they’re willing to invest in Ron Paul.
This support is inexplicable to many conservatives. Yet how many pundits, activists, and Republican leaders have had a candid talk with an experienced infantry NCO or company commander? Certainly many are well-connected with high-ranking members of the military command structure in Washington and have maybe even visited “downrange” on occasion, but have they gotten to know the troops?
If they had, they would have seen that years of war in the midst of the broken and dysfunctional societies of Iraq and Afghanistan have made soldiers remarkably (and understandably) cynical about the region. Simply put, preaching nation-building and democracy is one thing, fighting to make it happen is another thing entirely. In my experience serving with an armored cavalry squadron during the Surge, soldiers tended to fall into one of three general camps (these are rough generalizations, obviously, but still instructive):
----
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/287960/ron-pauls-appeal-among-military-david-french#more