(Illustration in oil by Frank Quinn of Walpole, MA, can be found here).

Despite the ongoing and apparently never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US public for the first time in years, favor the military a more positive view.
From yesterday’s Christian Science Monitor:

• While the military continues to rate highly in public opinion polls – consistently above other national institutions — far fewer Americans are actually interested in joining it or seeing their son or daughter do so.
  And since 2003 when the US invaded Iraq, the willingness of American youth to serve in the military has decreased significantly.
  …
  About 11 percent of military-age individuals say they will “definitely” or “probably” be serving in the military in the next few years, up 2 percent since last year.
  While this is still low compared with figures prior to the Iraq war, it is the first such increase since then, according to new Pentagon data.
  At the same time, perceptions of military service have either leveled out or begun to improve among parents, coaches, and teachers — “influencers” who Pentagon officials say are key to the success of their recruiting missions.
  About 59 percent of adults now say they would support a young person joining the military.
  Their enthusiasm in recommending military service had waned since 2003 and remains far lower than it did prior to the invasion, but this is the first time it has increased since that time.

Of course, Veterans’ Day is just lip service for the horrors of war.
Consider this:

• There have been about 100,000 American military fatalities in these undeclared wars or “conflicts” abroad, says Eric Garris. “It’s horrendous.” He is the director of antiwar.com, a site supporting a noninterventionist U.S. military policy and adherence to the rule of law.
  “A lot of the presidents’ actions take place not for strategic planning, just political events. How can you justify even one person being killed for that reason?” Mr. Garris asks.
  “At best, Congress has passed advisory votes that say to presidents, ‘We advise you to get out within a year.’ They essentially have left it to the presidents, which is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. They are relinquishing their responsibility.”
  …
  Congress abrogated its responsibility, says Jacob Hornberger, lawyer and president the Future of Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the Washington, D.C., area that espouses libertarian philosophy.
  “They said, ‘We don’t want to make that call. We’ll just delegate to the president to make the call.’ They weren’t declaring war. It’s not only unconstitutional, it was the height of political cowardice.”

So US young peoples are dying due to asshole political decisions by Decider George.
One cry this Veterans’ Day: Bring ’em Home!