I was responding to his remark (i.e., basically what are our troops defending?). He has a right to say that and I have a right to reply to him.
You sound like some type of censor trying to limit what kind of replies I can make TO SOMEONE ELSE based on your interpretation of the topic of the thread.
But with regard to deployments again I ask do you know how many foreign military bases we have around the world? Hint: no other country comes anywhere close to our vast array of facilities overseas.
I never said anyone didn't have the right to say whatever the hell they want. But the remark you were replying to was about recruiting. What else do you think was meant by the "Kids are catching on" part? So that's what I was addressing -- the argument that our current overseas deployments are the explanation for a drop in recruiting.
Look, if you just want to make a general point that we have too many overseas commitments, that's fine. I don't care. I'm simply saying there is no logical reason to believe that our current overseas commitments have anything to do with recruiting, or that kids aren't enlisting because they have "caught on" that we deploy overseas, which is really just the same point.