| ▲ | JasonADrury 2 hours ago |
| I'll spell it out: A lot of air force pilots in these countries end up being rich kids who do it because it's a fun hobby, not motivated soldiers. Because many of these people see it as a fun hobby, they don't spend much time worrying about potentially being ordered to drop bombs on schools filled with children. It's rather unlikely that their government would order them to do so anyway, compare a list of countries being hit by Iran with a list of countries bombing Iran. |
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| ▲ | singleshot_ 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| When you say, “these countries,” I imagine you include the United States, where politically connected youngsters like George W. Bush secured and then ignored jet interceptor training during the 1960s? |
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| ▲ | JasonADrury 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Be that as it may, I think we can agree that the USAF is not the same as the air forces of the Gulf countries. | | |
| ▲ | mvdtnz 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Not everyone agrees that America is special. You haven't convincingly won a conflict in how long, so we're not really convinced your military is as exceptional as you like to say. | | | |
| ▲ | baybal2 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [dead] |
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| ▲ | true_religion an hour ago | parent | prev [-] | | I would include the USA, with the caveat that in the US being sent to the military is often seen as a punishment for rich children where as in the Middle East being sent to the military can be an opportunity to build an independent power base for yourself or your family. | | |
| ▲ | nradov an hour ago | parent [-] | | The USA has a volunteer military. Occasionally there are cases where the criminal court system might agree to dismiss a minor charge if the defendant enlists. But that doesn't happen to rich people, or those joining as commissioned officers (pilot track). |
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| ▲ | morkalork 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| Air force pilots are the modern day knights of the sky. Also, up until WW2, which social class you were from determined whether or not you were going to be an officer or canon fodder so rich kids swooping their way into being captains is historically normal. |
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| ▲ | breppp an hour ago | parent [-] | | Actually during the time when the nobility went to be fighter pilots it was a suicidal role with very low survival rates (ww1) |
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