# What would make you take up arms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 25, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-take-up-arms/469457 "2008-10-25T00:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-take-up-arms/469457/41 "2008-10-29T15:32:03Z")
I took up arms, not just once but twice, in Iraq for the simple reasons of a decent paycheck and staying out of jail. Of course, I wouldn’t have joined the Army in the first place if I had known it was possible to dupe the American public into an unjust, unwinnable war just three decades after we got out of the last one. Nowadays I couldn’t see taking up arms on foreign soil at all unless it was to dismantle a (currently) genocidal regime AND we had some evidence that things would get better there, not worse, as a result. Of course, I would defend my family and friends (and fellow Americans) against invasion or oppression. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-take-up-arms/469457/42 "2008-10-29T15:59:15Z")
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**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-take-up-arms/469457/43 "2008-10-29T18:57:49Z")
Like **GusNSpot** said: If called, I would go. If the US were invaded and there was a call to arms for all of us untrained citizens, yes, I would take up arms or otherwise do my part as best I could. I don’t really have a skill set that would be much good in combat, but I have medical experience, and I can teach, drive a semi and handle complicated inventories, so I could contribute somehow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-make-you-take-up-arms/469457.md?page=2)