Jim Choate wrote:
Nations with imperial aspirations, invariably, throughout History change their conscript based army in favor of an army of paid soldiers. Today euphimisticaly called 'profesional' soldiers, but know also as mercenaries and soldiers of fortune in the not-so-distant past. (Note: Ligustically a "soldier" is 'someone-who-is-SOLD' anyway).
Psst - your ignorance is showing! The French term "soldier" refers to a warrior who is paid - "solde" means pay - as contrasted originally with feudal levies, who were not. Nowadays the distinction is meaningless because even conscripts are paid at regular rates, so we say "professional soldier" for a volunteer and "conscript" for a short-term draftee. A . "Salary," by the way, refers to a portion of the pay of the Roman legionaire, which was paid in salt.
Now this trend is well documented in past history and definately has its own Psychohistorical significance as it's one of the notable 'landmarks' of an Imperium (ie. a nation/state pursuing local/regional/global hegemony - dominance).
The US eliminates involuntary military servitude, and you call it imperialism. It develops a career army, and you call it mercenary. I know this won't make any impression on you, but do try to consider the obvious military advantages of having continuity in training, experience and DISCIPLINE. I would just add that by your criterion, Canada must be planning to take over the world because they have always had a professional military in all services!
Of course profesional soldiers are in for the money and generally do not look forward to a glorious death in Afganistan,
Have you ever actually talked to a US soldier? I don't think anybody "looks forward" to death in combat, but if you think our military is intimidated by the likes of OBL or the Taliban, you obviously don't know much about the current state of morale in the US military. And your ignorance shows again when you say professional soldiers are "in it for the money" - you contradict yourself. How much would it cost to convince YOU to put your life on the line? There probably isn't enough money in the world for that, because you are a moral coward, and such people tend to be physical cowards as well. Fortunately, your kind is the exception, something you are naturally incapable of perceiving from your perspective. Marc de Piolenc