[Cdnwolf]

Originally Posted by Webstral

In a representative form of government, the people elect folks like themselves. The citizenry of the US largely has avoided military service, so they elect representatives who have avoided service. The last fighting leader was Bush the elder. Perhaps not coincidentally, he was wise enough to lay out strategic objectives for the military and leave the operational aspects to the men in uniform. He also was not interested in winning on the cheap, which the US tried to make work in Iraq until we hand the mess off to the locals, and which we have been trying to make work in Afghanistan.

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Contrast that with the ideas put forth from Heinlein

In Starship Troopers, the idea that has taken the most heat over the years is that full citizenship, including the right to vote, ought to be a privilege reserved solely for veterans of public service, most commonly military. Only those who have personally shown willingness to lay down their lives for freedom are capable, Heinlein suggests, of properly appreciating freedom and are thus more deserving of its full benefits than those who haven't.