I rarely agree with Bob Herbert of the New York Times while a very knowledgeable man, I find his trendy liberalism hard to take—most of the time. However, there are occasional exceptions, today’s piece by Herbert entitled “A Fearful Price” is one of them (New York Times, December 8, 2009. Page 37). Before commenting on his commentary, here are two quotes from his piece:
“The idea that fewer than 1 percent of Americans are being called on to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq and that we’re sending them into combat again and again and again—for three tours, four tours, five tours, six tours—is obscene. All decent people should object.”
“The air is filled with obsessive self-satisfied rhetoric about supporting the troops, giving them everything they need and not letting them down. But that rhetoric is as hollow as a jazzman’s drum because the overwhelming majority of Americans have no desire at all to share in the sacrifices that the service members and their families are making. Most Americans do not want to serve in the wars, do not want to give up their precious time to do volunteer work that would aid the nation’s warriors and their families, do not even want to fork over the taxes that are needed to pay for the wars.”
What I am about to write is going to piss a lot of people off.
I got tired while in uniform of smug men and women thanking me for what I was doing.
I am tired of the majority of Americans not knowing up close and personnel what the men and women of the Armed Forces of our nation are doing, the sacrifices they make, and most importantly seeing up close and personnel the damage war does to bodies both physically and mentally.
I am tired of American’s pampered kids, who are over achievers, who want to make their mark in law, or finance, or government, never once considering service to their nation by serving in the military. I am tired of Americans who can do nothing but complain about government and deficits but who are not willing to pay for the wars.
I think it is time to return to the draft. Yeah, I know, returning to the draft would destroy our vaunted “All Volunteer Force.” Today, we do not have shared sacrifice in this nation, what we have is a mercenary force so the rich and pampered can go to the mall, vote republican or democrat, complain about government, screw around on their wives and husbands, and send their kids to elite universities in hopes they will make it big.
There is no doubt that an all volunteer force is higher quality than a draftee force, but an all volunteer force cost more both fiscally and in the price it imposes on increasingly separating society from the military. The all volunteer force makes it easy for President and Congress to send America’s son and daughters “to far away places, with strange sounding names” to fight our wars. A draftee Army, without exemptions, would draw from each caste and class in America. If the sons and daughters of Newport, or the Upper East Side, Los Angeles along with the sons and daughters of middle America we called upon to fight I suspect politicians would not be so quick to go to war.
Think about this: What does Joe Biden, Antonio Scalia, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Jim Webb and Prince Charles have in common, all have had sons who have served in either Iraq or Afghanistan. What do Nancy Pelosi and George W. Bush have in common, their kids have never served in uniform.
