Posted on 11/27/2009 8:45:33 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I don’t disagree with most of what Glenn Beck says in this piece. Courts-martial for Navy SEALS who allegedly gave a terrorist a fat lip while in custody? Does the Navy court-martial sailors who give each other fat lips? Would a SEAL stop at a fat lip if he actually got out of control? (I know a couple of SEALs, and I highly, highly doubt it.) Few would disagree with the thought that we should put the men and women who dedicate their lives to this country as our first priority, either, and that we should give them the resources to win fights when we put them in the middle of a war. But going on national television and advising them not to re-enlist? Beck does that here, and that’s one step too far (via The Right Scoop):
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR VIDEO
I’d have a problem with this advice if it was given privately, let alone to millions watching on television. Men and women enlist in the volunteer service to defend America, not to pick and choose which Commander in Chief they follow. They’re professionals who serve with honor regardless of the politics of the day. If they feel as though they’re not getting the support they need, they will know it better than those of us sitting stateside arguing over politics and policy. They will not need us to suggest that they bail out of the military if those are truly the conditions under which they serve.
Had someone like Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews gone on the air in 2005-8 and told millions (well, thousands in that case) that men and women should refuse re-enlistment because George Bush had underresourced the fight in Iraq — which seems indisputable now, especially after the success of the surge — conservatives would have screamed from the rooftops, and been right to do so. Furthermore, the problem in Iraq of underresourcing and strategic drift and decline lasted more than twice as long then as Obama’s been in office now.
We’re a nation at war, with the best and most professional army in history. We should trust that they can calculate the benefits and drawbacks of reenlistment with much greater insight than civilians, and refrain from using that process for political purposes — and especially refrain from encouraging our best and brightest to leave when we need them the most.
Update: Yes, he really did tell his nephew not to re-enlist:
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE SECOND VIDEO
you’re still ok to enlist to be a REMF.
Again, wrong.
The Oath is to the Constitution, not America.
America, might have different ideas and ideals, every Administration is different.
Obama wants our military bloodied and humiliated.
Beck can be a really stupid A-hole at times.
You don’t have to say everything you think and feel to millions of people. I think he should have kept this conversation between him and his nephew.
Did he serve?????
It isn’t just the Navy Seals case, which is bad enough. It’s also the way they’ll persecute anyone in the military for doing their duty, as they have in several cases we’ve followed here on FR. Lately, the ROE have become almost impossible—that any of our troops survive this nonsense is a miracle in and of itself. No, I would NOT recommend a lad join the military in these times, under this President, under these circumstances. Re-upping is another matter. They’re adults, and they know what the score is. If asked, I’d say what I did in this post, but really, it’s up to them.
Would you advise someone in your family to re-up at this time?
Under-resourcing a fight is FAR FAR different than prosecuting the people who are putting their lives on the line at the vanguard of a fight, and criminalizing the necessary and proper actions in pursuit of that fight. This analogy is laughable.
As a 10 year Marine Vet, it breaks my heart that I had to tell my children that I did not want them to enlist in the service as long as nobama, or some one like him is in the Whitehouse.
I would still give my life for what this country is/should be; I don’t want my kids to die for what it is becoming, though.
‘under this President, under these circumstances’
BS. Ask Lt. Col West. This act of attacking our military was done by the previous Admin as well.
We need the good kids to go in still. The training might become important,,, and we don’t want only Obamabots to get it. Obama would love nothing more than to scare away traditional Americans from the military. Then he can fill it with his own,,,,,
And his security force will be created without any change of law. No,,, Beck is wrong on this one.
Glenn is right. If the government won’t allow our troops to win, the troops should seriously consider whether to continue serving the government when their enlistments end.
He isn’t advocating armed insurrection or disobedience of legal orders.
Do you think it is wise to be set on the map in Afganistan like peices of a game of Risk? That is what Obumble is doing. I do think our men who want to serve should do what they want but then again why? They are being used as lemnings... Being used in Afganistan as political pawns... Obama is an a-hole.
This ain’t one of them.
With show trails like those for the Fallujah Marines & more recently the Navy Seals, B.S. rules of engagement, a general lack of leadership & commitment by both the White House & Pentagon, an unwillingness to call terrorists terrorists, and an asshat CIC that says, “I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur” I can understand where Beck is coming from.
Does it matter?
Something that occurred to me, however is how did a lot of conservatives feel about FDR back in 1941? Yet, despite who was in the White House they still did their patriotic duty during the war. What if people chose not to fight Hitler and Tojo just because they didn’t like the guy in the White House?
Not till the president shows that he actually wants to win. At this point he’s acting like Afghanistan and the soldiers there aren’t his problem.
There is a profound difference between certain elements of our military being the best we have ever fielded and “ the best most professional ARMY in history”. As the officer who called into Rush this past week said (and many others have said for many years now)There could be a huge problem if we ever have to fight an enemy who doesn't opt for the guerrilla thing.
I didn’t exclude GWB. During especially his second term, I would have said the same thing. (That said, I never really felt Bush was actively working against his country. I disagreed with him mightily, but he never seemed to be an open communist. I often feel Obama deliberately tries to find ways to make our country fail.)
FDR didn’t hate the soldiers.
At the time, everyone, from the guy in the White House all the way to the guy on the street, wanted to win the war. That is not the case today, especially for the guy in the WH.
and diminished just like the CIA.
Lets help him disarm America!
Leave her vulnerable to Islamic rape!
Of course not. If my nephew asked for my opinion, I’d tell him what I truthfully think and why. That doesn’t mean I’d get on national TV and say the same thing in an attempt to sway others. I’m guessing these types of conversations are happening in families quite a bit right now. Ultimately, they’ll make up their own minds.
The men who joined the armed forces to fight WWII had no reason to believe FDR would hamper them with idiotic Rules of Engagement designed to ensure they would get killed for no good reason, with the ultimate goal of loosing the war to Germany and Japan.
Those serving today have plenty of reason to believe their CIC wants them to lose and die.
Here is the oath of enlistment. Note that officers do not pledge to support the President as do enlisted men and women. I think that for the enlisted, they best consider who their President is and what kind of person he is and how dedicated he is to the Military before swearing to “obey the orders of the President of the United States.
The wordings of the current oath of enlistment and oath for commissioned officers are as follows:
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.” (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
“I, _____ (SSAN), having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God.” (DA Form 71, 1 August 1959, for officers.)
I doubt that's who Beck was speaking to. In any case, it's a personal decision. Any serviceman who refuses to re-up because of Beck's statement probably shouldn't be in the military in the first place. I think the really good soldiers will sort of nod their head and double their resolve. They know what's happening.
Easy, Org. Beck wasn’t trying to prevent anyone from re-upping. He just said that if asked, he couldn’t advise them to. Your son is a great man, hats off to him.
If I were asked by a potential recruit whether he should join the U.S. military I would have to be truthful and advise him Not too.Because with all of their rhetoric,democrats despise the military and they will create wars that get our troops killed in stupidly and then pull the support right out from under those same troops.
Just remember Vietnam,Lyndon Johnsons boondoggle.
Wrong again, the military men and women are just like Joe on the street, they could care less about the politics's.
Support is a reciprocal arrangement. The CIC has an obligation to support rational ROE, use the military as a military -- not some attachment of the Chicago Police.
There is no requirement that the military support the Marxist takeover of our government and the trashing of the Constitution. Beck gave good advise.
He should not be telling people to leave the military...It is none of his business and he should just shut up and entertain.
bookmark
As the author says in the original post: “We should trust that they can calculate the benefits and drawbacks of reenlistment with much greater insight than civilians...”
That being the case, I guess it doesn’t matter what GB says. I suppose the author himself doesn’t trust they calculate the benefits with greater insights!?!? Hmmm.
You said it best. Thank you.
You could make the case the some were more interested in the Soviets winning the war, than the US.
Beck doesn’t want him to “give up his rank and retirement”.
He said he didn’t recommend his nephew staying in, to get killed for no good reason.
I wish your great nephew the best in keeping his rank and retirement. His CIC wants to kill him.
How damn dumb can one person get? Maybe if we watch you we’ll find out.
I can relate to that. The people in control of this government have nothing but contempt for what young enlistees are sworn to protect. I sometimes fear that Obama and his ilk would rather fill the military with SEIU, ACORN and Fruit Of Islam types anyway, to be used as an enforcement wing. The more I observe those monsters and the people who put them in office, the more difficulty I have keeping my paranoia in check. I'd put nothing past them.
They’re not totally oblivious to politics.
And I’m sure, for the most part, they’d like to live to a ripe old age, rather than being killed for no good reason.
If Franklin was actively working to cause the defeat of the US in WWII, purposefully subjugating the US on the world stage, and seeking to destroy the US at every level, I know EXACTLY what patriotic duty the greatest generation would have done.
You don’t enlist to become an REMF.Your ordered to go Where your assigned.A lot of people who served in the military during the Vietnam war Never actually served in a combat unit their and it wasn’t their choice.It was the luck of the draw and the Unit issuing the orders.
I don’t recall ever saying I served. Oath or no oath you can be proud of encouraging your nephew to die for a president’s political gain.
There weren’t a lot of them, I know whereof I speak. Anyone voicing such sentiments often found themselves out of a job, out of an apartment, shunned by neighbors—and watched by the feds of the time.
I didn’t hear him tell his nephew not to re-enlist. I heard him say that he could not say his country had his back, and that all soldiers have a difficult decision to make.
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