Bring Our Guard Home
Bring Our Guard Home
The problem. Our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are making very heavy use of the state National Guards. Many members of the Maryland National Guard have been called up for multiple deployments in recent years. These wars were never officially declared by Congress, and the authorization of force that Congress passed in 2002 for the Iraq invasion is no longer valid because Iraq does not pose a continuing threat to the national security of the United States (not that it ever did). There are movements in several states (including Maryland) to “Bring the Guard Home.”
What I will do.
If elected, as the commander-in-chief of the Maryland National Guard — I, Governor Gaztañaga, WILL order our Guard home from service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is a firm campaign promise. It’s one of the two major issues that we’re running on, and neither of our likely major-party opponents will ever do this.
Many Marylanders object to these wars, as Doug and I do — we believe that they are not in our national interest. Others believe that the United States should not have invaded two countries without a formal declaration of war by the Congress — and we also agree. And still others believe that state Guards should only be used for their established purpose of dealing with domestic emergencies, and should never be deployed overseas to fight in foreign wars. And we couldn’t agree more.
My controversial order will set the stage for a big court fight as to whether or not governors actually have the power to do this. The case law is not exactly favorable on this point — although supporters almost never discuss this aspect. But we’ve looked into the case law on this, and without giving away our legal strategy, we believe that we can win this case — and we may be the only ones in the country who can. But in any case, if any state is going to do this, then it will need to be tested in the federal courts.
Legislation was introduced in the last session of the Maryland General Assembly to require the withdrawal of our Guard from overseas [SB571 and HB1037], and we support these bills. But legislation is only needed because Governor O’Malley won’t do it, unless he’s required to do so by law (and maybe not even then). But we will, and no legislation will be required.
So if that’s what you want, then you should vote for it.
