Correcting Ron Paul's Slap in the Face to Our Troops

During his post-primary speech Tuesday night, Ron Paul said the following during a long passage regarding the evils of the federal reserve:

They claim it’s a moral responsibility to take our young people, put them into the military, and send them hither and yon around the world, policing the world, and using up the money.

Who makes this claim? Who in fact is in place to “put” anyone into today’s military?

It’s evidently news to Ron Paul, but we have an all volunteer military and have for some time. There is no draft. Other than a tiny few in our military who are there under very exceptional circumstances, no one is “put” into the military today; our men and women in the armed forces serve because they freely choose to do so. Paul here is removing the moral agency of those who choose to serve their country of their own free will, and placing it into the hands of faceless entities at the heart of some grand conspiracy. Paul’s line is a slap in the face to our all-volunteer force.

Yes, I know: Ron Paul was in the Air Force. He was drafted into the military, and did not volunteer. He needs to update his facts.

Add to that, this:

Fortunately, we did not have to fight the Soviets. The Soviets brought themselves down for economic reasons. Do you know that they were so foolish and thought themselves so bold that they could pursue their world empire that they invaded Afghanistan?

The Soviets didn’t experience 9-11. We did, and that’s why we have been engaged in Afghanistan. But of course, Ron Paul may not believe that 9-11 was an act of war perpetrated against us by al Qaeda at all. He spends far more time railing against the “military industrial complex” than he spends dealing with the threat of transnational Islamic terrorism.