[keeda]

> Cry no tears for the slaughter of imperial troops

This comment from the same account above is dead so can't reply to it, but you must understand that the troops themselves do NOT want this. They are not clones genetically engineered for war. A very large fraction of them have been effectively conscripted due to economic pressures and lack of other opportunities.

As a data point, I happened to have a couple of brief but very candid conversations with students in the ROTC program just as the Afghanistan war had broken out. Their chances of getting deployed to the frontlines after graduation were suddenly spiking. Despite each conversation being very fleeting, each of them expressed consternation of their prospects and some regret at signing up just for the chance to get a free college education. They all acknowleged that they knew the risks when signing up, of course, but they had taken the chance at a time when the country was not mobilizing for war.

[boruto]

> troops themselves do NOT want this

I thought your empire had a voluntary military?

[keeda]

That's what I was addressing: for many it's "voluntary" in the way poor people "volunteer" to be homeless. (This applies across many countries BTW.)

I absolutely do not mean to slight any soldiers anywhere, I have the utmost respect for them putting their lives on the line for their country, but I also realize many of them are there only due to having few alternatives to escape their circumstances.

[frob]

Under their military rules, they have an obligation to disregard illegal orders. This war was not declared by congress. It is illegal and unconstitutional. They are chosing to do this and are thus complicit.

[keeda]

There are many aspects here, but I'll only comment on the one I brought up originally: they are in the military because they had few other options in life. And this is true in this very situation as well. If they choose to disobey orders, they risk court martials, loss of pension, imprisonment, or worse... even if they are right because, well, you've seen what else is happening in the country.

And they know that this was not done on a whim: https://www.jurist.org/features/2025/02/26/explainer-jag-fir...

[Tadpole9181]

To be clear, these people were not on the front lines in an invasion. Our contributions are currently (AFAWK) precision strikes. These dead service members would be victims of region-wide retaliatory missile strikes and may genuinely not have even known we had attacked Iran before a missile came out of nowhere and killed them in their (e.g.) cushy Dubai job.

Heck, if they were told the day of, what are they going to do? They're stuck in the Middle East on a deployment and will need to rely on a military vehicle to take them across the pond.

You should at least inform yourself about what's happening before making comments like this.