I hope you don't mind me trying to level with you as an officer of the US military. I'll start with some historical context, and move on to my own motivations and perspective on the situation as it currently stands.

People tend to take technology for granted. Back in the day there wasn't smart bomb technology, you had to drop a shitload of ordnance so that the 'average' hit the intended target. We could still use dumb ordnance, but we don't because contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the 2.2 million service members actually do care very greatly about human life and professionalism in the line of duty. And guess what hasn't changed? CDE or collateral damage estimation. Shit fucking sucks, and that's part of being at war.

All that said, being critical of your government is the most patriotic thing you can do as a citizen. But all of the criticism should be substantiated and deserved, with a hint of reservation for optimism, which seems to be lacking on Reddit in particular.

You see, I too grew up seeing what happened at Abu Ghraib and other issues stemming from the early years of the War in Iraq. I was 11 years old when I saw that on CNN. I was 9 years old on 9/11. I was actually an activist/super liberal Austinite at one point. I had an epiphany one day, and that is if not me, then who? The military has a need for young people with moral fiber and willingness to sacrifice and uphold an oath to the constitution. We need people like you, but how can anyone expect anything better when they're too busy pointing the finger to realize that at least part of the answer to your criticisms is staring you in the mirror each time you wake up in the morning. And now that I'm here, I believe in our mission and am proud to be a part of it.