Boots on the ground

January 18^th 2016

Many of the republican presidential candidates are calling for increased boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS. The term "boots on the ground" is highly derogatory and impersonal.  Our military are fine young men and women who deserve better. They are courageous, capable, unique people who often come from minority groups that the republicans appear to despise. Let's refer to them in a dignified and reverential manner. They are role models for us all, and truly deserve our praise and thanks for the terrible tasks we ask them to perform. When we send military personnel into desperate situations such as the Middle East, we are placing our young people in real harm's way. Such actions need to absolutely be a last resort, and in actual defense of our nation, not some macho bravado with other people's lives in order to gain political points. If the republicans want to increase our presence in that quagmire, let it be their own boots, not the pride and joy of mothers and fathers who have little or no choice in the matter.