Sending others to war

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I find it interesting that the man who avoided serving in Vietnam by joining the Maryland National Guard, i.e., current Secretary of State John R. Bolton, wants America now to go to war with Iran.
I guess as long as it is someone else’s son or daughter going to fight, it is okay. Neo-con logic.
Bolton continues to ratchet up the war rhetoric.
 
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How do you know that’s what Bolton wants? Did he tell you that himself?

And lots of National Guard troops were called to active duty in the VN war. That was no “safe haven”.

And, of course, all members of the armed forces are now volunteers. All of them.
 
Few people like Bolton.

But at least try, try, try to get his job title correct: Bolton is NOT the Secretary of State; he is the National Security Advisor. Mike Pompeo is the current Secretary of State.
 
YourNameHere said:
I find it interesting that the man who avoided serving in Vietnam by joining the Maryland National Guard, i.e., current Secretary of State John R. Bolton, wants America now to go to war with Iran.
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  1. I doubt that the Secretary of State wants the U.S. to go to war anywhere.
  2. Even if he did, it isn’t his call to make.
 
Tulsi Gabbard served a tour in Iraq, maybe two. She’s in the Hawaiian National Guard.

I think some of what is going on right now, is saber rattling, brinksmanship and I hold no animus towards Iran… a possible outcome in all of this though, is that we have another North Korean situation on our hands. I’m saying it is possible. Not saying it is probable.
 
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YourNameHere said:
I find it interesting that the man who avoided serving in Vietnam by joining the Maryland National Guard, i.e., current Secretary of State John R. Bolton, wants America now to go to war with Iran.
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The difference is, during Vietnam there was a draft, there isn’t one now. In the 1960s, people could be drafted and forced under threat of imprisonment to serve in the military and go to Vietnam. Everybody currently in the US military volunteered to be there with the full knowledge of the strong possibility that they could see combat.
 
Ridge, I have seen news reports, videos of Bolton, and heard his interviews from the past. I doubt you speak to Bolton on a regular basis.
As for his service. Maryland National Guard never sent anyone to Vietnam during Bolton’s service in the guard.
I am glad people are willing to volunteer for military service. I don’t want see their lives wasted on another needless conflict. My opinion. You probably prefer war, right?
 
Mike, Bolton is advising Trump. Bolton may resemble Capt. Kangaroo, but his rhetoric has always been warlike.
 
One similarity is that we should never have gone to war with Vietnam.
And we should never have gone to war with Iraq two times.
Guys like Bolton don’t seem to get it.
 
Sorry, Zzyzx_Road. Did not mean to offend.
I don’t give a hoot what Bolton’s title is. What I do care about is what trouble he may cause. And he is advising Trump.
The thing a lot of Americans do not realize is that fewer people are singing up the voluntary military serve.
Eventually, the draft will be reinstated. And then it will be Vietnam revisited. Those like Bolton or Bush go into the national guard, while the sons and daughters of average Americans go to fight.
 
YourNameHere said:
One similarity is that we should never have gone to war with Vietnam.
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Bolton didn’t have anything to do with Vietnam.
YourNameHere said:
And we should never have gone to war with Iraq two times.
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The first time probably made sense, but the second has looked like a mistake for a long time, even though I supported it at the time. Not sorry to have seen Saddam get his just desserts though.
 
It was correctly pointed out that a) Bolton is not the Secretary of State, and b) the decision to go to war does not rest with the Secretary of State anyhow.

The President knows that if he launches an Iranian war, he’ll be stamping his own exit from the presidency in 2021. Whatever issues du jour – illegal immigrants, the Mexican wall, trade wars with China, ObamaCare – the citizens see fit to scream at each other over, everybody is united in NOT wanting to see dead bodies returning from Iran.

Almost certainly, there will be no direct American messing with Iran before 2021.

ICXC NIKA
 
I know, Bolton did his military service in the Maryland National Guard.
King of like George W. serving in the Texas Air Force National Guard. Not many sorties flown over West Texas.
 
YourNameHere said:
Those like Bolton or Bush go into the national guard, while the sons and daughters of average Americans go to fight.
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Many in the National Guard and reserves have gone to fight. Don’t disrespect them by acting like they haven’t.
 
Bolton was for action in Iraq in 2003 but if one researches it, he was not an architect for the invasion, they kept him away from that. That does not take away from his loose cannon talk but he does know the bureaucracy that is confronted in Washington and was likely brought in for reasons like that. How to deal with the system. He is a national security advisor. Senator Rand Paul of course, did not want Bolton near the state department. Hopefully, SOS Pompeo is doing a good job. I did like both General Mattis and Rex Tillerson.
 
To his credit, Trump’s instincts seem to be dovish (or non-interventionist if you prefer), not hawkish, and that’s a good thing in my opinion. I recall he expressed a dim view of the Iraq War when he was a candidate.
 
I have no idea who this Bolton guy is, nor his positions or influence with regards to going to war, but this isn’t a very good argument. Just because he said or did something 45+ years ago with regards to Vietnam doesn’t mean all that much with regards to what positions he puts forth today.
 
The National Guard - Army and Air - serve our country with honor and highly skilled service. They are made up of mostly prior Active Duty veterans now in the civilian world and serving one weekend a month plus two weeks a year minimum for training. That is the minimum participation - a full time force is at work plus serving whenever needed.
A unit may be called to Active Duty and operate along with all branches of Military to serve in conflicts worldwide.

Please do not post statements that are totally lacking in any measure of accuracy.
 
YourNameHere said:
King of like George W. serving in the Texas Air Force National Guard. Not many sorties flown over West Texas.
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IIR, Bush did inquire about Vietnam service as a pilot, but was rejected because they were phasing out the plane he was qualified on (the F-102) , and he didn’t have the minimum number of flight hours required. By the time he did have sufficient hours, Nixon was beginning to draw down US forces in Vietnam so it became moot. FWIW.
 
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