...liberal philosophy shares many values with the military: looking after the general welfare, shared risk, sacrifice for common goals and long-term planning. Liberals value public service, and the military is our largest public institution. We also share many other areas of concern:
* International human rights law: U.S. military lawyers are human rights champions for Guantánamo prisoners and for the Geneva Conventions.
* International treaties: The U.S. Navy is one of the strongest advocates for the Law of the Sea.
* Nuclear arms control: The military generally finds nuclear weapons unusable.
* Conflict resolution: The Air Force has a prize-winning office of dispute resolution.
* Renewable energy: The U.S. military is the largest energy consumer in the country.
* AIDS prevention: The Defense Department has an extensive program to help foreign militaries.
Yet, Congress continues to drain billions from budget coffers to pay for Cold War programs like nuclear weapons and missile defense. The immediate military needs are more obvious: low-tech items like body armor, and human resource skills like language education.
It really makes you wonder, american conservatives love a strong national defense, as long it's used as a short term objective.
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