CALLING YOU UP

[JulieB]

I was just wondering how many of you guy would be willing to go and fight for you nation today or tomorrow.

[Billfred]

Not to get Bill Clinton on you, but that depends on your definition of fighting for my country.

If some army is marching down Harbison Boulevard (the main drag near my house), pass me a shotgun and let's dance.

Once you leave the country, however, things get fuzzy. I have always been against taking a fight to someone, unless taking it to them is the only way to keep them from bringing it to us.

So yeah, I'll fight for my country--as long as the fight is needed. Butt-kickings should only be handed out when other methods won't work.

[Ryan Albright]

i would be ready to go anytime. This summer i almost joined the air force but was already going to college so i decided to wait to see how i like college. I might join the national guard this summer or go fully into the air force

[Dorienne]

I'd do it immediately, though I am female and wouldn't be able to. But if they did indeed go through that hoax draft where they take men and women as soon as they were 18, I'd go. Though I'd be scared slightly, I'd still go and just try to stay alive for my family back home. And my team!!!!

[Lisa Perez]

I personally could never do what those involved in warfare efforts could do (shooting at others being my main concern).. However, I would be willing to help in ways which may incorporate the improvement of technology and charity to those harmed by said warfare.

[Cory]

If someone is invading our borders, sure

If the President of the United States decides he doesn't like some crackpot off in the middle of nowhere, hell no.

[Bill Gold]

If another country is invading us, I would be willing to physically fight for our country (if I couldn't be of better use in any other position).

I have already, and will always continue to fight for the courses of action that I think our country should employ. This means that I will fight against overextending our troops throughout the world, as well as fighting against other policies that not only are counterproductive to our country’s progress, but were obviously not adequately thought out.

This question is completely loaded. The tone behind it implies that anyone who doesn’t believe our country did the right thing by not securing the nation of Afghanistan, and then invading Iraq and doesn’t want to support this either illegal or unjust invasion of Iraq isn’t patriotic. People who blindly follow the government and never question anything absolutely do not have a monopoly on patriotism. I can defend the country just as well as a Republican, and neither of us wants to do it more than the other.

I’ll get off this soapbox now…

[Bcahn836]

I am would be honored to defend my rights and the rights of others. I know what has been lost to have these rights given to me and i would be willing to do the same.

[Wetzel]

I plan to join the Navy when I have two years left on my BSN. Pay for the rest of school, then get some very good experience early on and a great benefit system after I get out.


Wetzel

[Ryan Albright]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

I plan to join the Navy when I have two years left on my BSN. Pay for the rest of school, then get some very good experience early on and a great benefit system after I get out.


Wetzel

I work with a two retired navy captains, and they say the navy was amazing as long as yo u dont get stuck down in the engine room or as a cook

[Wetzel]

Originally Posted by Ryan Albright

I work with a two retired navy captains, and they say the navy was amazing as long as you dont get stuck down in the engine room or as a cook

I think Bethesda is nice.
I am well aware of how the Navy works. My dad is an academy grad and was active for 10 years, still in the reserve. The access to things like the PX and MWR facilities is great.

Wetzel

[Ryan Albright]

Originally Posted by Wetzel

I think Bethesda is nice.
I am well aware of how the Navy works. My dad is an academy grad and was active for 10 years, still in the reserve. The access to things like the PX and MWR facilities is great.

Wetzel

Ahhh i seee

[jonathan lall]

This question really is loaded, and is being interpreted differently by different people. I personally wouldn't join up but then again my country is a middle power that doesn't believe in preventative war (back to this point in a sec). As a result, hostility toward it is lower in the general populace of "hostile states" than it is in that of some of our closest allies. And because no state hates us as a whole, when you couple that with our foreign policy, to "fight for my country" becomes rather blurry for Canadians. So much so that joining the Canadian Army could send one off to any number of humanitarian missions (which may include all-out fighting) that are disagreeable.

The point I try to make is that people should only participate in fights they think are just, no matter what fight they may be. If you think invading Iraq was a just means to defend your country against a clear and present threat, then I disagree with you but I respect that, because at least you have the personal justification to go fight.

In today's state of affairs though, the United States, Israel, and Britain are three countries that form a minority that is still willing violate the sovereignty of other countries through invasion, act unilaterally, and participate in preventative war. Some people have suggested that they would fight only to defend their country. But weren't the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq defending a country? To "fight for my country" can mean so many different things. The Unites States and Canada are not going to be invaded, and it is for this reason that this phrase has so many implicit and unclear meanings. The last time the US was attacked by a state with a warmaking intention was Pearl Harbour. To say I'd "fight for my country" to me implies I'd participate in a war which is universally and objectively in my entire country's (and therefore my) best interests. The war in Iraq as you all know was more like "fight for my government."

[Yov]

remind me when Israel invaded a country that didn't attack it first again?

[jonathan lall]

Originally Posted by Yov

remind me when Israel invaded a country that didn't attack it first again?

Interesting you should ask that question as Isreal is a pioneer of both preemption and prevention.*

In 1989, Israel launched an aerial attack upon the newly-built Osiraq reactor in Iraq, which they saw as a possible strategic threat down the road due to its possible ability to make weapons-grade plutonium as a by-product of enriched uranium fission. The reactor was crippled easily by Israeli bombs dropped by a squadron that stealthily moved through Iraqi airspace. So ended a chapter in Iraq’s nuclear programme, and so began an era of preventative warfare in international law with this new precedent.

In the Six Day War, Isrealli forces attacked opposing Arab forces who were builiding up on their own sides of Israelli territory. This was an excellent (and quite obviously justified) excercise of preemption. Because of this precedent set, had Iraq attacked American forces as they built up preparing to invade, it would have been completely legal.


* Preemption refers to forcing the initiation of an imminent conflict in order to gain some advantage, whereas prevention involves dealing with prospective conflicts or threats before they show any direct signs of occurrence. I'm a Political Science major.