The Guard Shouldn’t Be Used in Undeclared Foreign Wars. Nor Should It Be Subject to the Whims of a Vainglorious and Unstable President
News that President Trump may yet gain control over the Oregon National Guard despite the opposition of Oregon’s governor, mainly for the purpose of intimidating the City of Portland reminds us that our National Guard is worth protecting from power-hungry egotists scheming for war on enemies without and “within.”
In my home state of Massachusetts, I recently supported legislation to “Defend the Guard.” It seeks to prohibit the Massachusetts National Guard from being deployed into active combat without a formal declaration of war from the U.S. Congress.
Here’s the letter I wrote to “Defend the Guard.” There may be similar efforts in your home state; I urge you to support them.
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I’m a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who grew up in Brockton. Members of the MA National Guard included my neighbors and members of my family.
Since 9/11/2001 and the AUMF that followed it, Guard units across the country have been deployed to overseas wars (Afghanistan and Iraq most notably) without Congressional Declarations of War. Guard units have further been deployed to faraway conflict zones such as Africa. They are deployed for months at a time for missions unrelated to the defense of the United States. Hardships to Guard members and their families are considerable.
During the War on Terror, more than 40% of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan were Guard and Reserve units. Under Presidents Trump and Biden (2017-24), the bulk of U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq have often been National Guard units. Many state legislators do not know their NG units are deployed in this manner. Furthermore, those units are then unavailable to respond to local and state-wide disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other contingencies.
The bill before the Senate does not restrict the use of Guard units in a legal war declared by Congress. It does, however, protect the Guard from being abused by irresponsible leaders who refuse to obey and follow the U.S. Constitution, the law of the land. For that reason, I strongly support this bill.
Please vote “yes” to protect your family, friends, and neighbors who serve honorably and selflessly in the Guard here in Massachusetts. The Guard defends us—please help defend the Guard.
Thank you.
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The bill itself is still pending in the Massachusetts State Legislature.
Bracing Views 
Let alone desegregate Southern schools and universities…..where will it end……
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Where will it end, Indeed.
With respect to desegregation, I trust Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a former five-star general and WWII leader, over Trump. Trump wants to use the Guard for routine law enforcement–but that is what we have police forces for. And local and state leaders insist units like the Guard are unneeded.
You can’t uphold the law by breaking the law (e.g. the Posse Comitatus Act). Nor is it a good idea to give any president more and more power.
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Also a Mass. resident, thanks for bringing this bill to light. I can remember as a kid seeing on t.v. and posters here and there, one in particular featuring a depiction of a Minuteman, “Sleep well tonight, your National Guard is alert.” As a kid it kinda drummed into me that geez, this is a dangerous world, with those Russians ready to attack us. Only much later did I learn that was all concocted by Paul Nitze and friends to steer this country down a path leading to Viet Nam and how many other “proxy” wars, and now with an obscene, wholly unjustified except to fulfill fantasies, $1+ trillion per year in “defense” spending. This country (government(?), does it make a difference?) won’t be able to sustain that for much longer.
As to the “National” Guard beyond deployed internationally, does anyone one in the upper echelons of the military, of the war-mongering government see the ridiculousness of this? Evidently not.
Hardship on the families? Never brought to light by the media, strictly verboten, not if you want to keep your access to the Penta-goners, as if that counts for much. Family income strained? Having to go to food banks instead of affording the grocery store?
The further cynical insult. The staged events of father or mother surprising the 8-year-old at school after being away for six months or so. At least that parent came back alive. How about those who came back to this country via a military transport plane through Dover Air Force Base?
Yeah, just who’s “the enemy within”?
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That statue. It is so unusual to see a normal, not overweight, human body.
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