With the impending war with Iraq inevidble, I was beginning to ponder when or if I would ever fight for my country and to what degree. I think if we had a full on WWIII with N. Korea and every other country that hates us (the list keeps growing), I would gladly step up to the plate....
If the country was attacked, ala 9/11 or in any other manner. If another country used a first strike nuclear attack, and seemed poised to do it again. Even if that country didn't attack the U.S.
I wouldn't... unless another nation threatened my race or religion or attacked America. Maybe maybe no
Seriously, this is a great thread. The "if we were attacked" is now really tricky. We *were* attacked, but not by anything you can label a country. Some say we were attacked by "terrorism" and now we must fight this (admittedly abstract) noun as if it were a country with clearly defined borders, including actual countries. Others say we were attacked by a small group of madmen, and you can't then associate them with whole nations without incredibly strong proof. Our old system of defining war and fighting looks really outmoded now. I would fight for this nation if we were invaded. I really and truly don't know how to effectively fight "terrorism" (defined here as hijackings and public bombings and combinations thereof, for starters) other than covertly hunting down the culprits, and if I could help with that I would.
I have served in the U.S. military. While I never saw combat (I served in 'peace time') I have served this country. The only way I would fight would be in the event that our country was invaded, I would take up arms in a heartbeat whether it was with the actual military, a militia or an underground resistance of some sort.
I, too served in the military. I would go if drafted for any reason at all. (Former soldiers are the first to go in the draft, or so I have heard). Other than that I am patriotic enough to go back in under the right circumstances. If any foreign enemy sent organized forces to our soil I would probably get back in. At the least I would join a wartime militia.
Well that's great for you. I don't believe that senseless killing is the answer to the world's problems.
I'd fight when asked meaning when drafted whether I believe in the cause or not wouldnt matter. Lots of people in my family have fought for our country. I'd feel alittle bit of a a wuss if I tried to back out. I'd hope everybody would go if they were drafted that is if they ever get the draft back back. But for me to go voluntary probaly would require our country getting whooped in a a war and desparately needed more men than id head out which thankfully will never happen
Good thread, The only way I could actually point a gun at another is if the the US were to be directly invaded/attacked. War is the absolutly last solution that I am willing to consider under any circumstances. Edit: I would also be willing to take up arms if many people were being killed for no reason as in WWII. In my opinion that was the last justified war that we were involved in.
All this French stuff is ridiculous...we support the freedom of other nations, will even go to war for them...but God forgive them if they ever disagree with us. Sophomoric, ignorant drivel. Where is it written that not rubber stamping whatever notion the US has is an automatic classifier as weak, or any other negative conotation we are currently assosiating with France merely by virtue of the fact that, like most of the world, they disagree with us over Iraq, but unlike the rest of the world, they can actually do something about it? To be so far up your own a$$ that you can't see the merit of the position of another nation, let alone the world, even so far as to have them disagree with you without mocking them and dismissing their position, or right to it, by assuming hiden and/or less than genuine/noble motivation for it is the personification of the arrogant ,globally ignorant, knee-jerk ego-centric American that the rest of the world takes so much issue with. I would go to war if we were directly attacked by another nation...I would go to war when there was no ther choice to stop someone who ignores the sovereignty of other nations or the sanctity of human life, and had the capacity to do so without it being regulated by the usual deterents to same, if the world supported it...There are probably other situations in which I would go to war, but like those ones already outlined they would have to be pretty desperate, pretty extreme, and pretty well thought out..Being in the study of military history has shown me ( and everyone else in the field) that , whatever the predictable pre-war rhetoric, the vast majority of wars in human history have been poorly fought by people who didn't have sufficient cause, and usually made little positive impact whatever their horrific cost..also, they have been cases of the many fighting to better the lot of the few a vast majority of the time...as such, my demands for a just war are pretty high..
Well said, I agree completly agree with you. I am really curious of what's with all the hostility towards France opposing us? Nearly all of Europe disagrees with us but you don’t see pro-war people making fun of Germany. If you are going to make fun of France do it for some of the other numerous reasons.
If my country called I would be there. That may be a draft or if the word came down that the US needed people right now to defend this country I would do it. That being said no I am not in the military. I am too greedy to be in the military, but if our country needed me I would be there. I was very serious about going to the Air Force ROTC after HS, but college seemed a better choice. And for all of you who said you would not fight, well I am glad you take a stand. But I could never stand by to watch someone take what is mine, regardles sif that is my possesions, my family or my freedom. I believe in fighting for what what I want and freedom (more importantly my country) is somethign I would fight for.
I agree, but what do you have to say about Anti-War protestors here and abroad, who assume "hidden and/or less than genuine/noble motivation" for America wanting to go to war. It works both ways.
France has had a long history of standing up to the US for the sake of standing up to the US, not for principles. Those recent JFK tapes showed he was even frustrated with the French gov. Germany has no such history, so their stance is being viewed more as a disagreement on the right course to take and not a personal affront to the US.
