Meatstick News: War Czar and the Draft

The Bush administration has long claimed that the war in Iraq is the epic struggle of our times. A year ago George Bush declared, "Every element of national power is being marshaled in the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century." He also said, "The battles in Iraq will one day rank alongside those at Omaha Beach and Guadalcanal as mileposts on the path to liberty." In the same speech he declared, "the United States must stay the course in Iraq because it is a battleground in an epic struggle between democracy and tyranny." In a similar speech a few months ago Karl Rove was quoted as saying the war in Iraq is, "the defining issue in our generation."

If everything they say is true, then why hasn't the administration asked more of America to help us win this epic struggle? If they really believed everything they say, then how can they think it is fair to ask our Armed Forces (that roughly make up less than 1% of the total population) to be the only ones to help us win the war that is the defining moment of our generation?

These are the questions that I have been asking myself for the last few years. If this is actually the defining moment of our generation, and we are going to continue keeping troop levels at where they are at now, then I feel we need to start asking the rest of our country to pull their weight.

Members of both political parties have stood up in favor of a draft. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel claimed, "Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?" Hagel argued that restoring the draft would force "our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face." Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel has repeatedly called for a draft because he believes that it would force Americans to be more outgoing in their resentment for the current war in Iraq. In 2006 Rangel declared,

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way."

Both of these men have very opposite but very good reasons for reinstating a draft. However, if you are skeptical of anything that comes out of a politician's mouth, like many of us are...then maybe you might take the word of our war czar, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, more serious. In an interview with NPR this week, Lt. Gen. Lute made the following comment regarding the draft, "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it."

The administration quickly dismissed their own czar's comments by saying, "The president believes an all-volunteer military serves the country well, and there is no discussion of returning to a draft."

So, to summarize:
The administration believes we are involved in the epic struggle of our generation but they don't plan on demanding that more than 1% of our population do anything about it. They would rather the other 99% of the people stay in America where they can debate the merits of Barry Bonds and the latest gossip on Lindsay Lohan. Oh well, I guess I should be more positive about this. On the bright side of things...if we fail in Iraq at least we have 99% of the people on guard ready to "fight the terrorists over here."

*Here are the numbers:
1,426,713 people in active duty military
858,500 in the reserves

2,285,213 people in the military in the US.
The total population is roughly 300,000,000.

2,285,213/300,000,000 = .772% serving in the US military