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The Ayn Rand Institute came out with another op-ed about the war, The Real Disgrace: Washington’s Battlefield “Ethics”. It talks about a report that was recently released by the Pentagon that says troops would not report “unethical” behavior by fellow troops. The author of this op-ed explains why he takes the side of the troops.

The author says it’s the Washington’s Rules of Engagement that are crippling our troops and pushing them to use this “unethical” behavior. He also explains how Bush is sacrificing our troops for the freedom of others, and is not really fighting our enemy (Iran). When the author brought up that Washington and Bush view this as a compassionate war, I was reminded of an essay by Rand.

The essay is called Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World. She focuses on how the idea of altruism is destroying our way of life. She mentions that both the liberals and conservatives fall victim to this train of thought. Bush was quoted saying, “sacrifice for the liberty of strangers”. How messed up is that! Our military was formed to protect this country and our way of life, NOT the country and way of life of others! Here is proof that the idea of altruism has found its way into the military, a place where it should not be.

Yes, our troops risk their lives, but they do it in defense of their values. And that is moral. To force them to sacrifice themselves for others is immoral. We need to understand the difference and protect our troops from this altruism so they can protect themselves and the American way of life.