Recent IM about Military Careers

Me: I'm just saying I can't conceive of any circumstance where I'd be comfortable joining the Army.
The Other Guy: You're too independent.
M: Yeah, that, but mostly I couldn't ever make the choice where I would kill for a living.
TOG: You make it sound like murder.
M: Isn't that what killing people is?
TOG: There's a difference between murder and self defense.
M: I agree. But what we've done in recent history has nothing to do with self defense. It's murder for political purposes.
TOG: That's one point of view -- I think we're liberating an oppressed people.
M: You might be right, and that is a worthy side-effect of the war. But that's not why we went over there. We went over there to find WMDs and battle terrorism.
TOG: Exactly, self defense.
M: As it turns out there are no WMDs.
TOG: We'll find them, probably in Syria.
M: Good luck. But my point is, whether or not we find them, our reason for fighting the war, the benefits we're supposedly getting, have changed with the situation. That makes me think there is no real reason or we'd stick to the story.
TOG: It doesn't matter. The bottom line is that the Iraqi people are free, Saddam is in jail and democracy has a chance in the Middle East. The end justifies the means.
M: No it doesn't. That's why I couldn't join the military. If I thought there was a real threat, I'd pick up a gun and fight. But to join the military is to say that you're willing to kill another human being for shifting political reasons that may or may not be justified.
TOG: If everyone worried about that there'd be no one left to fight.
M: Exactly.