Our stupid and innane "War on Terror" is taking a huge toll on Reserve troops sent on endless deployments to such places as Iraq and Afghanistan, and leaves the states vulnerable when they are most in need.
So, how does Liz Cheney fit into this picture???"In a 2019 Pew Research poll, 64% of veterans said the war in Iraq wasn’t worth fighting; 58% said the same of Afghanistan. A January Concerned Veterans for America/YouGov poll found two-thirds or more of veterans support full withdrawals from both countries. ......
Fed up after years of relentless National Guard deployments in undeclared wars, state lawmakers across the country are pushing legislation that would prohibit the use of Guard units in combat zones without a formal declaration of war by Congress. ......
The National Guard has played a major role in America’s post-9/11 militarism: As recently as December, more than
57,000 Guard members were deployed around the world. . .....
BringOurTroopsHome.US is led by Dan McKnight, a 13-year veteran of the Marine Corps Reserve, active duty Army and Idaho Army National Guard whose military service ended after he was injured in Afghanistan. McKnight has friends who’ve done a
staggering 12 or 13 overseas National Guard deployments. Beyond the risk to life and limb, and the hardships imposed on individuals, families and marriages, he says communities also pay a price.
Deployments also prevent National Guard units from responding to crises at home—their primary reason for existing. For example:
- When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, thousands of the states' National Guard soldiers were deployed to Iraq. Mississippi’s 223rd Engineer Battalion returned to repair hurricane damage—but was ordered to leave its equipment in Iraq for use by other units.
- In 2020, as Oregon endured some of its worst wildfires ever, half the state’s National Guard helicopters were in Afghanistan, including all its CH-47 Chinooks—dual-rotor choppers capable of carrying 26,000-pound payloads and ideal for use in firefighting. The Oregon Guard did what it could with Blackhawk helicopters that have one tenth the lifting power.
ENTER LIZ CHENEYLiz Cheney Intervenes to Thwart Wyoming BillMcKnight says "the most offensive opposition that we’ve faced" came from U.S. Congresswoman Liz Cheney, daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney.
"When we pushed the Defend the Guard bill in Wyoming last year, she or her staff contacted members of the Wyoming legislature and said, 'If this passes in Wyoming, I will personally see to it that two C-130 aircraft are stripped from Wyoming and sent to Texas'," says McKnight, who was in Cheyenne to support the bill, along with U.S. Senator Rand Paul. .......
"Months before, he and other veterans met with Cheney in Washington to urge her to support the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
"We went into Liz Cheney’s office and we asked her, 'What conditions must be met on the ground for you to support ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing our troops home?' And she said, 'I don’t think I could ever support that position'."
Pressing the issue, the veterans asked Cheney how long troops should remain.
"She looked us stone-faced in the eye and said, 'Forever. American troops will be in Afghanistan forever'," says McKnight. "That’s when we decided it was time to step away from the swamp and work in the states, and force the states to force Congress’s hand."
https://starkrealities.substack.com/p/state-lawmakers-attack-federal-misuse