Posted by
New Siddhartha on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 12:00:00 AM
Barack Obama, aspirant for Commander in Chief, considered military service in 1979 when he was 18. That was when he filled out the card for the Selective Service and I imagine that military thought passed as quickly as the post card dropped into the mail slot. Oddly enough he made it sound as if he would have entered the military if there was war. Perhaps.
We had something back then it was called the Cold War, remember that all peace? Not!. Back then, the peace kept two (2) million in military uniform, nuclear bombers always in the air and full contact proxy wars all over the globe. Anyone serving in military in those days remembers the months long exercises up along Communist borders. The Cold War battle plans ranged from Fulda Gap to the defense of Soeul to Siege of Berlin and a hundred battles we still can't mention. We knew what we had to do.
Mr. Obama youth forgets or was clueless to 1979 Iranian Islamic Republic's seizure of American hostages. That mess cost Jimmy Carter his job and essentially started the US military rethinking about the ideas of counter insurgency, operations other than war and yes, nation building. Had Mr. Obama joined the military from ROTC at Columbia, he'd be a senior officer today, having served in wars and actions like Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War and our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Had he the interest in special operations he could would have conducted special ops in dozens of covert ops all over the planet. I'm sorry he didn't get a chance to serve, his natural skills for oratory and natural charm would have taken him far. Had he served, he would have lost his proclivity to waffle as a junior officer and built a real resume where actions do speak louder than words.
Orignial article : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/2700555/Barack-Obama-wanted-to-join-the-US-military.html