In an age of political apathy, about the only thing that could incite real passion from young voters on college campuses across the nation is the one thing no politician should want to mention. In what may be the most telling condemnation of reinstating the draft in America, the senator who first re-ignited discussion of it, Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., admitted that the issue was radioactive in an election year. The fact that the draft, dormant for 31 years, is enough to kill political careers is proof that it is not a feasible option for the United States. The idea of a draft is flawed for many reasons, and if the Bush administration or any future presidency must resort to it, they must seriously re-examine their foreign policy decisions.
A conscripted army would prove to be unwieldy and unmotivated as compared with the modern specialized force. Many politicians, including former military men like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have recently said the volunteer army is the best fighting force ever fielded by the United States. The military already has filled the June re-enlistment quotas of more than 28,000 soldiers, evidence of the volunteer army's dedication. Training and equipping 30,000 new troops would cost an estimated $5 billion a year. This is money better spent on existing forces that are more willing to fight for their country. And, with public opinion generally split on the war, the military and the government would be faced with a public relations catastrophe unseen since Vietnam. Americans might have been motivated to fight in the days of the World Wars when they felt their way of life was seriously under siege, but in these days of regime change against essentially inferior opponents, public zeal would be sapped. The lessons of Vietnam in terms of an unmotivated fighting force and a sickened populace should not be forgotten, or else the national pain of past generations here and abroad will be relived.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan has vehemently denied reinstatement is even being considered, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld making similar comments. But, the disheartening truth is that neither has publicly ruled it out, and how can they? The current anti-terrorism policies of the United States have dictated a dedication to waging aggressive warfare against nation-states thought to either be sympathetic to terror or considered an imminent threat to U.S. security. The lack of troops in Iraq demands reinforcement, with the same names against a draft (like McCain) saying more troops are necessary. If the United States continues Iraq-like campaigns, occupation forces for those countries will require a large amount of manpower, with a draft possibly being the only way to build up these forces. If the draft is political suicide, it is not a stretch to say anything necessitating a draft is akin to it as well. With the troop pool running low, and no end to Iraq in sight, policy planners would be wise to ensure the draft remains nothing more than a painful relic of the past or risk a public backlash unseen in more than 30 years.
Policies hide photos of war deaths
Vietnam not only turned public opinion against the draft, but it also helped sever the once-cooperative ties between the media and the military. Embedded journalists in the most recent Iraq war signaled a thawing of relations between the two, but governmental policies bordering on censorship still remain, which both mock the free press and work to deceive the general public.
Photos of flag-draped coffins have appeared infrequently in newspapers over the past weeks. While not forbidden to publish them, the government has made it so difficult for media outlets to get close to the somber processions that many have charged the government with attempting to cover up the most tangible and tragic results of military action abroad. A cargo worker employed by a military contractor took pictures of the coffins and was fired along with her uninvolved husband after her photos were released.
Much like President Bush's refusal to attend military funerals, the administration's public refusal to acknowledge the unfortunate truths of war is troubling. The photos do not, as the White House would like U.S. residents to believe, threaten soldiers' privacy, as they are unmarked and families are well aware of the deceased long before they are returned to the United States. Current policy encourages public ignorance and gives the government a convenient excuse to paint a positive picture of Iraq without the inconvenient images of those who died fighting its war.
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