Originally Posted by airborne_artist
He's a plonker, for sure.
Politicians pick the wars soldiers fight, not soldiers. If you don't want to fight in a particular war, don't join the military, as it's the only way you can be sure of avoiding a war you don't agree with.
This is true as they are now Wars of Choice and not Wars of last resort. Equally true the wars that this officer is being asked to take part in are sufficiently close to his joining the military that he should know what was likely.
If we open up the argument, how about those hundreds of USAF aircrew that joined up as part of the Western deterrent in the Cold War only to find themselves in a hot war in southeast Asia.
What about long serving military who find their Government is engaged in politics a world removed from the war when they joined? Then they should be able to selectively opt out - ie leave - or be drafted to an important defence job in a different theatre, like the Aleutians for instance.