I've been noticing a lot of facebook statuses with people pledging their support for troops and/or veterans. Although I think these people have the best of intentions, I don't think they have given that much thought to what our American soldiers actually fight for.

When I hear chants about how "they defend our freedom" and make "courageous sacrifices" I can't help but shake my head. If you analyze the phrase literally, soldiers have done very little to defend America's freedom since World War II, and even that's debatable (unless you think Hitler actually had a chance at conquering America). Invading other countries preemptively simply does not do much to secure our freedom at home in my opinion. Although these people are making courageous decisions, I don't necessarily think we should be praising people for making a misguided, albeit brave decision in which they think they are fighting for something in which they are not. We don't praise people who die in other dangerous activities such as mountain climbing or sky-diving because we basically assume they were adrenaline junkies who knew the risks they were getting into. I don't view Americans who sign up for the military as much different than these people (no, I'm not completely heartless - I feel bad for friends and families of people who have died in wars).

People who sign up for the military end up being responsible for the killing of thousands of innocent people. No, they aren't heartless murderers who enjoy taking innocent lives, and yes, it's the politicians, not the soldiers who make the decisions to start wars, but if everyone simply refused to fight, it would be extremely difficult for us to fight these unjust wars (the possibility of a draft has basically been taken off the table since Vietnam). I'm a little more understanding for Vietnam veterans because many of them had to fight against their will, which is a crime in itself against humanity. However, current military operations have such little legitimacy, and the American military has turned into little more than a subsidy program for defense contractors. Can someone please tell me how a relatively small network of terrorist organizations is going to end life as we know it in America? The only freedoms that are being eroded as a result of the terrorists are self-inflicted (The Patriot Act).

I realize it is fairly controversial in this day and age to criticize "the troops", but it's been something that has been gnawing at me for some time now. Why are we praising these people who are willingly brainwashed into fighting for causes that are unfounded? This praise just helps perpetuate this cultural fondness for wars that we find ourselves in.

So, I ask: Why must we praise the troops? What are they actually doing for us? What motivates young Americans to become soldiers and volunteer to fight in these wars in the first place?

I apologize ahead of time to those of you who are veterans or have a close friend or family member who is currently fighting overseas. I don't mean to offend you, I just want to know the reasons for fighting and create some dialogue as to whether or not those reasons should be praised as they are in American society.