We need a draft.
You know, I was discussing this with Neysa last night and I've come to the conclusion that we do need a draft.
There is something very wrong with this country at the moment and I'm not talking about the obvious problems with the administration and political situation. I'm talking about the fact that we, as a society, are capable of waging war with zero burden. None. Unless you are a military family or are close to someone in the military, this war has no ramifications for you. Do any of us realize that?
There is no rationing. There are no drives for war bonds. There are no calls for conservation of important war resources (like oil and rubber doing WWII and the myriad of other things that were rationed like sugar).
You could argue this is simply due to the strength of our economy. Partly, that is probably true. Although I believe it is in large part due to a concerted effort to distance us from warfare and the burdens of it.
We've had multiple tax cuts during this war. Tax cuts - DURING A WAR. A war that is costing us record amounts to the point that our debt is higher than basically ever before. We go about our daily lives. Nothing is changed. Gas costs are more or less as stable as they can be. Food prices are low. Who would realize there is a war on?
The media payed close attention to the war... at the beginning. Now embedded journalists are far and few. The war has become something distant, something foreign. Most all that anyone hears is a that some soldiers or Iraqis died in an explosion in Baghdad or Mosul or some other distant city. We don't know names, we don't see faces. We don't see the bodies of dead Americans - something that is censored to distance us from the horrors of war.
And its all working.
So we need a draft. A war should not be burdened solely by a tiny, tiny portion of the country (somewhere around 1%). War should not be taken lightly - but in this setup it is treated that way. And that is what the government wants. They want us to be so distanced and unaffected by war that we could care less if we are at war and that we would agree to military action for basically no reason - after all, it doesn't affect me right?
No I sit at home and lounge around and play computer games while thousands of people my own age die in a foreign country for no reason. There is no rationale anymore for why we got into Iraq. Saddam was not a threat. No WMD's were ever found. No ties between Saddam and 9/11 were ever established and found (the 9/11 panel and the FBI find no link between 9/11 and Saddam or Iraq).
The war is a lie. Yet we send our youth over to a meat grinder. And not enough people stand up and say this is wrong - and why should they. They don't have to serve. They don't have to lose anything. Nothing changes for them.
Would these people who support the war be willing to send over their own sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters? No? Then no one should be asked to. If you refuse to shoulder a portion of the burden of war, then you have no right to ask someone else to do so.
Yes, I realize we have a volunteer army and that these individuals who enlisted chose to serve and give their lives. That should not mean that the rest of society can go on as if nothing is occurring. War is not some private affair of the few. Society chooses to go to war, society should shoulder the burden in some way, if not actually serving.
We should see the images of the dead. We should hear the names of the casualties every day. If you get sick of it, or you get depressed, good. The fact that we can simply opt to not worry or think about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (you know that country we invaded and then forgot about and is not falling into chaos)is horribly, horribly wrong.
A draft would bring this realization home. A draft would force people to evaluate their positions and their eagerness to wage war. It's easy to support war when there are no consequences to you or anyone you love. It's easy to talk about terrorists and how freedom is at stake while you drive around in your gas guzzling SUV's, and go about your daily life unfettered by concern or burden.
Maybe, just maybe if larger portions of society were asked to take part of the responsibility of this war, then the country would wake up and see whats going on. They would see that war is a horrible thing and should always be the very last option available to us after we have exhausted every other line of diplomacy and strategy. Instead it's used as the first option, our foreign policy is a sledge hammer. We smash before we think. We think being strong and tough means using force at every turn. And no one blinks because it doesn't affect us.
But just stop and think. If you agree with this war or if you know someone who does. Ask them if they would be willing to fight or if they would want their sons and daughters or loved ones to be put in harms way. Because if the war is important enough, and if our country is truly in danger, then everyone should be more than happy to lay down their lives and luxuries to protect our freedom.
So I hope, that the new War Tsar, Lt Gen Douglas Lute, who himself has stated he would like to see a draft, gets his way. Let's see what tune people sing when all of a sudden it's their kids going off to die for no reason.
I feel ashamed to be part of this country and be able to go about my life so freely while others die. That's not the beauty of our country, that's the problem. It means that we will be more likely to engage in conflict and jump to force as a primary means of diplomacy because there are no reprecutions for the large majority of us. And that's what has happened.
There is something very wrong with this country at the moment and I'm not talking about the obvious problems with the administration and political situation. I'm talking about the fact that we, as a society, are capable of waging war with zero burden. None. Unless you are a military family or are close to someone in the military, this war has no ramifications for you. Do any of us realize that?
There is no rationing. There are no drives for war bonds. There are no calls for conservation of important war resources (like oil and rubber doing WWII and the myriad of other things that were rationed like sugar).
You could argue this is simply due to the strength of our economy. Partly, that is probably true. Although I believe it is in large part due to a concerted effort to distance us from warfare and the burdens of it.
We've had multiple tax cuts during this war. Tax cuts - DURING A WAR. A war that is costing us record amounts to the point that our debt is higher than basically ever before. We go about our daily lives. Nothing is changed. Gas costs are more or less as stable as they can be. Food prices are low. Who would realize there is a war on?
The media payed close attention to the war... at the beginning. Now embedded journalists are far and few. The war has become something distant, something foreign. Most all that anyone hears is a that some soldiers or Iraqis died in an explosion in Baghdad or Mosul or some other distant city. We don't know names, we don't see faces. We don't see the bodies of dead Americans - something that is censored to distance us from the horrors of war.
And its all working.
So we need a draft. A war should not be burdened solely by a tiny, tiny portion of the country (somewhere around 1%). War should not be taken lightly - but in this setup it is treated that way. And that is what the government wants. They want us to be so distanced and unaffected by war that we could care less if we are at war and that we would agree to military action for basically no reason - after all, it doesn't affect me right?
No I sit at home and lounge around and play computer games while thousands of people my own age die in a foreign country for no reason. There is no rationale anymore for why we got into Iraq. Saddam was not a threat. No WMD's were ever found. No ties between Saddam and 9/11 were ever established and found (the 9/11 panel and the FBI find no link between 9/11 and Saddam or Iraq).
The war is a lie. Yet we send our youth over to a meat grinder. And not enough people stand up and say this is wrong - and why should they. They don't have to serve. They don't have to lose anything. Nothing changes for them.
Would these people who support the war be willing to send over their own sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters? No? Then no one should be asked to. If you refuse to shoulder a portion of the burden of war, then you have no right to ask someone else to do so.
Yes, I realize we have a volunteer army and that these individuals who enlisted chose to serve and give their lives. That should not mean that the rest of society can go on as if nothing is occurring. War is not some private affair of the few. Society chooses to go to war, society should shoulder the burden in some way, if not actually serving.
We should see the images of the dead. We should hear the names of the casualties every day. If you get sick of it, or you get depressed, good. The fact that we can simply opt to not worry or think about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (you know that country we invaded and then forgot about and is not falling into chaos)is horribly, horribly wrong.
A draft would bring this realization home. A draft would force people to evaluate their positions and their eagerness to wage war. It's easy to support war when there are no consequences to you or anyone you love. It's easy to talk about terrorists and how freedom is at stake while you drive around in your gas guzzling SUV's, and go about your daily life unfettered by concern or burden.
Maybe, just maybe if larger portions of society were asked to take part of the responsibility of this war, then the country would wake up and see whats going on. They would see that war is a horrible thing and should always be the very last option available to us after we have exhausted every other line of diplomacy and strategy. Instead it's used as the first option, our foreign policy is a sledge hammer. We smash before we think. We think being strong and tough means using force at every turn. And no one blinks because it doesn't affect us.
But just stop and think. If you agree with this war or if you know someone who does. Ask them if they would be willing to fight or if they would want their sons and daughters or loved ones to be put in harms way. Because if the war is important enough, and if our country is truly in danger, then everyone should be more than happy to lay down their lives and luxuries to protect our freedom.
So I hope, that the new War Tsar, Lt Gen Douglas Lute, who himself has stated he would like to see a draft, gets his way. Let's see what tune people sing when all of a sudden it's their kids going off to die for no reason.
I feel ashamed to be part of this country and be able to go about my life so freely while others die. That's not the beauty of our country, that's the problem. It means that we will be more likely to engage in conflict and jump to force as a primary means of diplomacy because there are no reprecutions for the large majority of us. And that's what has happened.