One nice thing about writing for Yr Wonkette is that we don't even have to pretend to hide our raging nerd-crush on Rachel Maddow, or pretend that we don't just melt in fannish excitement when she acknowledges the existence of our little mommyblog -- she's
Afghanistan, yes. But Iraq only because most people thought there was a connection to 9/11. Without that, there would have been no interest whatever in going there, just as there had been no interest in going into Lebanon, Somalia, or Whatever.
I spent my youth being ardently hostile to the draft and on the whole I think it's still probably a bad thing--at least, if Israel is anything to go by. The tendency over time is to infuse civil society with elements of a military culture. (Although Israel is too weird for too many reasons to be a good general example, to be sure.)
But if the draft were truly universal--no exemptions for anyone for any reason (those with medical problems do other kinds of service)--it might make the powerful classes less casual about starting stupid-ass wars.
Iraq happened because there was no draft. It was the core of Rumsfeld's determination to run a war without manpower. That was explicit.
One option might be a law requiring that as soon as a war starts (as soon as we have enlisted/noncom boots on the ground), the draft kicks in; that would probably ensure a century or so of American isolationism.
<i>No POWs or &quot;enemy combatants&quot; without a declaration of war. </i>
This. Among all the insanities of Guantanamo maybe one of the worst in the long term is the idea that anyone we&#039;re scared or suspicious of (or just dislike) can be named an &quot;enemy&quot; and a &quot;combatant&quot; even when there&#039;s no war. Orwellian redefinition of common nouns aside, it&#039;s appalling that habeas corpus can be circumvented so easily.
I think it probably did. The student antiwar movement was driven by the fact that 18-year-olds really did have skin in the game. If Bobby Kennedy hadn&#039;t been murdered, he&#039;d most likely have won in 1968 and there&#039;s a good chance we&#039;d have been out of VN within a year.
And the draft would have had a bigger effect if it had been universally enforced. The sons of Congress all got 4Fs and avoided the draft far too easily.
For those interested in being further depressed on this topic, I highly recommend Thomas Ricks&#039;s recent book &quot;The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today.&quot; He&#039;s the guy who wrote &quot;Fiasco&quot; (another excellent book on the Iraq shitstorm) and he writes very much from inside the perspective of the US military. He is excoriating on today&#039;s military--particularly the total lack of accountability by leaders (no one ever gets fired) and the way a generic culture within DoD (conservative, Christian, conformist) ensures that no one innovates. The outcome is that whether we win wars or not doesn&#039;t really matter.
Well, it may have taken them some time to get things rolling, but there was something called The Woman&#039;s Strike for Peace as well as a ton of youngsters who were facing the draft. Perhaps the youngsters were even more motivated since most of them (less than 21 yoa) didn&#039;t get the vote until 1971.
20% on the wealthy since they get the greatest benefit from it.
Afghanistan, yes. But Iraq only because most people thought there was a connection to 9/11. Without that, there would have been no interest whatever in going there, just as there had been no interest in going into Lebanon, Somalia, or Whatever.
I spent my youth being ardently hostile to the draft and on the whole I think it&#039;s still probably a bad thing--at least, if Israel is anything to go by. The tendency over time is to infuse civil society with elements of a military culture. (Although Israel is too weird for too many reasons to be a good general example, to be sure.)
But if the draft were truly universal--no exemptions for anyone for any reason (those with medical problems do other kinds of service)--it might make the powerful classes less casual about starting stupid-ass wars.
Iraq happened because there was no draft. It was the core of Rumsfeld&#039;s determination to run a war without manpower. That was explicit.
One option might be a law requiring that as soon as a war starts (as soon as we have enlisted/noncom boots on the ground), the draft kicks in; that would probably ensure a century or so of American isolationism.
<i>No POWs or &quot;enemy combatants&quot; without a declaration of war. </i>
This. Among all the insanities of Guantanamo maybe one of the worst in the long term is the idea that anyone we&#039;re scared or suspicious of (or just dislike) can be named an &quot;enemy&quot; and a &quot;combatant&quot; even when there&#039;s no war. Orwellian redefinition of common nouns aside, it&#039;s appalling that habeas corpus can be circumvented so easily.
I think it probably did. The student antiwar movement was driven by the fact that 18-year-olds really did have skin in the game. If Bobby Kennedy hadn&#039;t been murdered, he&#039;d most likely have won in 1968 and there&#039;s a good chance we&#039;d have been out of VN within a year.
And the draft would have had a bigger effect if it had been universally enforced. The sons of Congress all got 4Fs and avoided the draft far too easily.
Does The Pig subscribe to <a href="https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch\?v=76Yvw_ZztQk" target="_blank">this theory</a>?
For those interested in being further depressed on this topic, I highly recommend Thomas Ricks&#039;s recent book &quot;The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today.&quot; He&#039;s the guy who wrote &quot;Fiasco&quot; (another excellent book on the Iraq shitstorm) and he writes very much from inside the perspective of the US military. He is excoriating on today&#039;s military--particularly the total lack of accountability by leaders (no one ever gets fired) and the way a generic culture within DoD (conservative, Christian, conformist) ensures that no one innovates. The outcome is that whether we win wars or not doesn&#039;t really matter.
On a White Summer morn, I expect.
Well, it may have taken them some time to get things rolling, but there was something called The Woman&#039;s Strike for Peace as well as a ton of youngsters who were facing the draft. Perhaps the youngsters were even more motivated since most of them (less than 21 yoa) didn&#039;t get the vote until 1971.
Other clowns.
In their defense they&#039;re also raping each other.
true- it was the House
Animal House.
I suggest the first draftees be from the sons and daughters of those in Congress and pundocracy.
How about the Border Patrol attacking Arizona or the EPA Texas?
&quot;I built this!&quot; has long been an effective rallying cry for the LIVs