Bob Collins
Former state rep John Kriesel isn’t a fan of using the Minnesota National Guard to fight the Ebola epidemic.
Kriesel, now the director of veteran services for Anoka County, took to Twitter yesterday after it was announced members of the Red Bulls — he was one when he was wounded in Iraq — would be deployed to Liberia to provide logistical help for U.S. forces already assigned to the region.
When you join the military you take an oath to defend the Constitution of the US against all enemies foreign and domestic, not Ebola…
— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) November 16, 2014
The Minnesota National Guard has been leaned on during the global war on terrorism more than other states. Using them for this is foolish.
— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) November 16, 2014
I seriously cannot come up with the reason in my mind why the MN National Guard should be deployed for logistics support of the Ebola fight.
— John Kriesel (@johnkriesel) November 16, 2014
Kriesel said fighting disease shouldn’t be a military mission.
“Maybe it should be,” a Twitter friend responded.
Krisel, who’s good for one Twitter fight every Sunday afternoon, called that suggestion “dumb.”
Why does the military need to get involved? Because it’s the only organization with “the rapid deployment capability and chain-of-command structure necessary now,” according to Dr. Joanne Liu, the president of Doctors Without Borders.
Sriram Khé, associate professor of geography at Western Oregon University, also says its attention to discipline also serves it well in a fight that requires it .
Fighting Ebola was an issue right up until the election. Now, apparently, it’s not our fight.
Related: 2009 case of hemorrhagic fever similar to US military’s Ebola fight (Stars & Stripes).
