That's a secondary role for the Guard, by the way - their primary responsibility is to serve as a backup for the Regulars in time of war.
"Primary"? Dual, perhaps. The governors fought tooth and nail for the right to keep the National Guard under their command, not the Federal government's. They took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost... in the 80s. (So much for States Rights.) I'll take your word for it about some of the wars -- certainly in Vietnam, they weren't used as much (as you point out) -- but "support units called up" doesn't seem to describe the situation today. Traditiaonally, the National Guard is literally that: a national guard. They serve the homefront, which only occasionally means being called up for active military duty in a foreign country.
I was trying to clarify what you meant by "chickenhawk".
Why?
I make the point, twice, that the Guard have not been around to help US citizens in times of disaster because they're off at Bush's war, and you haven't responded to that point. Your knee jerk reaction to one word seems like an attempt to change the subject more than to discuss the situation in NOLA.
I tell you what: You respond to the main issue (possibly not here; let's let dreamshark's thread take a break), then explain to me why you are curious about "implications" of a fairly straightforward description, and I'll point you to some websites that should change your non-chickenhawk mind.
Re: Wow, are you wrong.
"Primary"? Dual, perhaps. The governors fought tooth and nail for the right to keep the National Guard under their command, not the Federal government's. They took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost... in the 80s. (So much for States Rights.) I'll take your word for it about some of the wars -- certainly in Vietnam, they weren't used as much (as you point out) -- but "support units called up" doesn't seem to describe the situation today. Traditiaonally, the National Guard is literally that: a national guard. They serve the homefront, which only occasionally means being called up for active military duty in a foreign country.
(Aside: While the National Guard was roughly half the troops in Korea, that's because "The principal strength of both organized reserves and National Guard lay in the fact that much of their personnel had seen combat service during World War II." so that was a special case that doesn't apply to Iraq. Similarly, the role of the US military changed during and after WWI and the war (for us) was shorter than the Iraq war so far, so I don't think that example applies either.)
I was trying to clarify what you meant by "chickenhawk".
Why?
I make the point, twice, that the Guard have not been around to help US citizens in times of disaster because they're off at Bush's war, and you haven't responded to that point. Your knee jerk reaction to one word seems like an attempt to change the subject more than to discuss the situation in NOLA.
I tell you what: You respond to the main issue (possibly not here; let's let dreamshark's thread take a break), then explain to me why you are curious about "implications" of a fairly straightforward description, and I'll point you to some websites that should change your non-chickenhawk mind.