Congress has started talking about a draft, something about spreading around the dead and dying thing more evenly amongst our populace. It seems the military has a disproportionate number of poor minorities.
I’m conflicted on this issue for several reasons: I think we should never have gone to Iraq and at this point I think we should get out and not look back. The money we are putting and going to put down a black hole could be spent developing new energy sources. Meanwhile, outlaw SUV’s and ration gas instead of sending young men to die.
I spent about 10 years going around with a hollow feeling in my stomach during Vietnam, praying every day that my three sons would still be too young to go before the war ended. I saw so many broken kids come back from that nightmare. Thankfully it ended when it did. Now they are too old for this one unless it turns into WWIII, in which case they might draft up to age 45 like they did in WWII.
The mantra about saving the Iraqi’s from Sadam, blah, blah, blah is wearing thin; not even the troops believe it anymore. We ended up turning tail and running from Vietnam. Let’s do it now. Who cares?
The thought of sending this generation of young men into that hell over there just makes me sick. I think the terrorists have become more determined and have recruited more men since we attacked Afghanistan and Iraq. And I think that maybe, just maybe, that was the whole idea of the attack on the world trade center. They knew Bush was a cowboy and he played right into Osama’s hands.
I personally believe that there is no solution for Iraq that can be solved by having foreign troops there. Democracy has to evolve from within in the natural course of things. Just like ours. The problem is that it takes several generations and we don’t want to wait. A small example: Bulgaria. In the end the citizens lined up that bastard, his wife and his sons against a wall and executed them.
I know someone can poke logical holes in my argument; go ahead and do it. I wish I could see something hopeful in all those dead bodies and minds that have to live with horrible images the rest of their lives. Just ask a WWII vet who saw combat how he has slept at night all these many years.
Nobody that anyone takes seriously is considering a draft. History has made it abundantly clear that, short of a total war, professional volunteer armies are the way to go. Our forces may be stretched, but Iraq is a pretty small conflict in the grand scheme of US military capability.
Though I had reservations about the war before it was begun, I don’t see how we could possibly justify an immediate withdrawal after blowing up their country. We have an inescapable responsibility to do everything in our power to help Iraq towards democracy and sovereignty.
The war may or may not have been wrong, but now that we find ourselves in this pickle, how ought we to proceed?
As a military man, I hate the thought of giving up the gains we have made. To pull out would throw Iraq into a real civil war. (What we are seeing now is a child’s game compared to what would happen.) Should we do that?
We could argue the source of our present situation lays in the real George Bush not driving to Baghdad when he had the chance.
On the other hand, doesn’t there come a time to cut our losses and say let those people kill each other for all I care? I am spring-loaded against this idea, but admit it has some validity.
As for the draft, I see no need for it, nor do I desire it. We could fight a nasty little war for decades with only volunteers.
As a (retired) professional, I would feel real nervous about having a draftee on my left or right.
I think collectively that the US of A has a responsibility to at least make a plausible attempt to put Iraq on a even keel before throwing in the towel. The price will be great in lives, tax dollars, and a whole lot more.
We elected (or ended up with a leader depending on how you look at it) a leader that put us into this mess but I do think it is our collective responsibility.
Of course that is easy for me to say since I won’t be risking my life. And there is a chance to change leadership coming up if there’s anyone out there unsatisfied with how everything has been handled to date.
We don’t need a draft. The voluntary recruitment levels are doing quite well.
I don’t think this argument is going anywhere.
FTR, I’m glad we’re in Iraq, I’m glad we’ve liberated the country and stopped the torture and the rape rooms, and I’m glad we’ve saved the Iraqi people from Saddam. We should stay until we’re done.
And as for all the talk about “We’re just over there for the oil,” what about the breaking scandal over the UN-run Food for Oil program? Now there’s some shit that’s going to hit the fan.
I’ve been saying this for a year now, and I still think it’s true. The Draft will be started in November, no matter who wins.
The last I heard (last week) we now have only two brigades left which are not in active combat situations. We are having to break promises, and keep troops in the ME for longer periods than initially stated. We are already calling up more reserve and NG units. In short, we’re running low on soldiers.
We had Senators mentioning that “manditory military service” may be necessary in the near future on the Sunday news programs this past week. I don’t think the draft is as far-fetched as a lot of people believe.
For all you folks between 18 and 26, just remember college and grad school no longer exempt you (sorry Dad, Bill and Dick) and NG units now serve over seas (sorry Dan and George).
When most of our reserves are out in Iraq, who is the front line on our shores?
I know there is little threat from anyone, really. Nobody would be stupid enough to land troops on U.S. soil, but this is one of those what if things. Could a medium sized army, if they could assemble without much notice by the U.S. (a HUGE assumption), walk right in?
And don’t you think there are a lot of civilians, with licensed guns, who would be more than willing to protect their property and loved ones?
I think it’s that way on airlines now. Passengers are not going to sit idly by while someone threatens to blow up the plane. They’re going to tackle him. They’ve already done it with unruly passengers.
Stay in Iraq? I want to say yes, I really do. We should do something to rebuild their country…
but I just don’t think it’s worth it. And they really, really don’t want us there. We could do so much good with that money (and those lives) over here. I’m all for reducing our troop commitments everywhere overseas (Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Japan, Germany, Britian, wherever) Bringing The Boys Back Home, and saying, “We wish ya a lot of luck, but we’re just going to stay over here for a while.” Not isolationism, just disengagement. Give our dollars to the countries that like us, not to the ones that don’t, and spend all the theoretical extra cash over here.
But are you willing to go there to back up your opinion? In other words, do you think it is worth dying for? Or is it only worth other people dying for?
Personally, I don’t think it worth dying over, or even wasting time that could be better used here, which is why I left the military. I don’t think starting wars is a just and honorable thing to do.
When it comes down to it, this is the fundamental problem with government that causes wars to happen. People are perfectly willing to send other people to die for whatever cause they deem worthy, yet are rarely willing to put themselves in the same situations. Sadly,this is typical of human beings across the entire planet, and the current crop of politcal warmongers are nothing special.
Well, I was dead set against the war, but I think that staying is the only right thing to do at this point.
I am afraid though, that as long as Iraqis sniff the slightest bit of self-serving interest on the part of America, the violence against American soldiers will continue. As long as the U.S. is insisting on doing things their way, rather than doing whatever is necessary to support the Iraqi people, things will go badly.
