Post by MercurySolo on May 2, 2004 23:05:05 GMT -5
Americans, what do you think of this opinion article I came across in CSU Chico's "The Orion" student newspaper?
----------
( taken from www.orion-online.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/28/409017d886917 )
Don't stop troop slump with draft
Brady Velikonia
Guest Columnist
April 28, 2004
There's a draft in here, and it's not just me.
More than 100 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been killed this month, and the Pentagon won't say how many have been wounded.
President Bush insists on staying there though several nations that belong to the Coalition have begun to pull out of Iraq, including Spain, Poland, Nicaragua and Honduras. This leaves Bush, and us, to wonder:
Who will take their places?
I will. My roommates will. And so will all the other young men who sit next to me in any given class. We will have no choice if the draft is reinstated.
Last Tuesday, Senator Chuck Hagle, a senior Republican leader with close ties to the White House, publicly expressed the "need" for a draft. This came right after the news of more and more damaging attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.
The war effort isn't receiving a ton of help because of low volunteer enlistment. The lack of volunteers is probably because most Americans do not feel threatened by Iraq and therefore are not motivated to invade the country.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, volunteers seemed to increase because the threat to our well-being became reality. We had a real reason to fight back.
We don't really have that right now. Maybe the current administration should begin to clue into the fact that we, potential soldiers, do not even believe in this current conflict, and why should we? We were lied to.
New firsthand testimonies, especially those by Bob Woodward and Richard Clarke, have been published within the last few weeks regarding the Bush administration's plans for Iraq. They state that, among other things, Bush had decided to go to war long before the actual invasion.
That"s funny, since Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld always seems to deny that Bush had any prior Iraq invasion plans.
Our government is lying to us, feeding us false excuses for wars and other conflicts. So it should come as no surprise that so many young men, myself included, would rather be branded cowards than fight for a government that won't tell us the truth.
We'd rather be called unpatriotic than join a war with pretenses that change every few months. If it's unpatriotic for someone to speak out against something as insidious as unjustified warfare, or to protest boldfaced liars who claim to be our voice, then call me a traitor.
Getting an education will not save you from being drafted because, guess what? There is no such thing as college deferment anymore. The most that can happen is a delay until the draftee finishes his current semester.
I don't know about you, but finals would look bleaker than ever if I knew I was going to kill or be killed as soon as I turned in my last Scantron. How would my parents feel knowing I could be drafted the day after I receive my diploma?
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things is that a vote to dump Bush might not solve the problem. There is no guarantee that a change in the current administration would erase this potential reality.
It's much more likely that the Bush administration will implement this doctrine upon re-election, but John Kerry has also said that he will not leave Iraq if he were to win the White House. Unfortunately, he is probably our best choice right now.
The process is already in motion. Draft boards across the nation are probably starting to be formed. If we don"t say anything about this, if we don"t voice our concerns, we will be saying we agree with reinstating the draft.
Now is the time to reverse these actions and show our government that we will not be forced to fight an unjust war.
Hagel said every American knows about the situation in Iraq and that no American has a reason not to bear the burden of the war effort. That would be whether that American believes in this war we are fighting or not. But I have four good reasons not to bear the burden.
I'm a son. I'm a brother. I'm a boyfriend. And I don't want to fight a war I don't believe in.
--------------------
I don't totally agree with this guy's opinion, but it's scary to think that there's two bills floating around congress that could re-instate the draft. Ironically, both were proposed by Democrats to try to get conservatives to re-think having an extended commitment in Iraq.
I'm pissed enough that because of certain mistakes in thought made by our government (who really believed the Iraqis would "celebrate like the winged monkeys at the end of Wizard of Oz", as Adam Corolla said, once Saddam was taken out of power? Hindsight's a motherfucker, though), our American millitary, who aren't allowed to have an opinion about their job, are in the midst of a style of war they have never seen, and are dying because of it.
I'd be curious to see how the military will vote in the coming election. I'd at least think that enlisted soldiers would be a little sore that señor el presidente is not providing them with an adequate amount of equipment. Also, the government is charging single enlisted soldiers their normal $400-$1200-a-month rent for their apartments back in the U.S., many of which are occupied by other soldiers who have returned from Iraq. Meanwhile, these same soldiers are living in tents in Iraq. $1,200 to live in a tent in a desert? that money could go towards kevlar vests or something worthwhile.
----------
( taken from www.orion-online.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/28/409017d886917 )
Don't stop troop slump with draft
Brady Velikonia
Guest Columnist
April 28, 2004
There's a draft in here, and it's not just me.
More than 100 U.S. soldiers in Iraq have been killed this month, and the Pentagon won't say how many have been wounded.
President Bush insists on staying there though several nations that belong to the Coalition have begun to pull out of Iraq, including Spain, Poland, Nicaragua and Honduras. This leaves Bush, and us, to wonder:
Who will take their places?
I will. My roommates will. And so will all the other young men who sit next to me in any given class. We will have no choice if the draft is reinstated.
Last Tuesday, Senator Chuck Hagle, a senior Republican leader with close ties to the White House, publicly expressed the "need" for a draft. This came right after the news of more and more damaging attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq.
The war effort isn't receiving a ton of help because of low volunteer enlistment. The lack of volunteers is probably because most Americans do not feel threatened by Iraq and therefore are not motivated to invade the country.
In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, volunteers seemed to increase because the threat to our well-being became reality. We had a real reason to fight back.
We don't really have that right now. Maybe the current administration should begin to clue into the fact that we, potential soldiers, do not even believe in this current conflict, and why should we? We were lied to.
New firsthand testimonies, especially those by Bob Woodward and Richard Clarke, have been published within the last few weeks regarding the Bush administration's plans for Iraq. They state that, among other things, Bush had decided to go to war long before the actual invasion.
That"s funny, since Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld always seems to deny that Bush had any prior Iraq invasion plans.
Our government is lying to us, feeding us false excuses for wars and other conflicts. So it should come as no surprise that so many young men, myself included, would rather be branded cowards than fight for a government that won't tell us the truth.
We'd rather be called unpatriotic than join a war with pretenses that change every few months. If it's unpatriotic for someone to speak out against something as insidious as unjustified warfare, or to protest boldfaced liars who claim to be our voice, then call me a traitor.
Getting an education will not save you from being drafted because, guess what? There is no such thing as college deferment anymore. The most that can happen is a delay until the draftee finishes his current semester.
I don't know about you, but finals would look bleaker than ever if I knew I was going to kill or be killed as soon as I turned in my last Scantron. How would my parents feel knowing I could be drafted the day after I receive my diploma?
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things is that a vote to dump Bush might not solve the problem. There is no guarantee that a change in the current administration would erase this potential reality.
It's much more likely that the Bush administration will implement this doctrine upon re-election, but John Kerry has also said that he will not leave Iraq if he were to win the White House. Unfortunately, he is probably our best choice right now.
The process is already in motion. Draft boards across the nation are probably starting to be formed. If we don"t say anything about this, if we don"t voice our concerns, we will be saying we agree with reinstating the draft.
Now is the time to reverse these actions and show our government that we will not be forced to fight an unjust war.
Hagel said every American knows about the situation in Iraq and that no American has a reason not to bear the burden of the war effort. That would be whether that American believes in this war we are fighting or not. But I have four good reasons not to bear the burden.
I'm a son. I'm a brother. I'm a boyfriend. And I don't want to fight a war I don't believe in.
--------------------
I don't totally agree with this guy's opinion, but it's scary to think that there's two bills floating around congress that could re-instate the draft. Ironically, both were proposed by Democrats to try to get conservatives to re-think having an extended commitment in Iraq.
I'm pissed enough that because of certain mistakes in thought made by our government (who really believed the Iraqis would "celebrate like the winged monkeys at the end of Wizard of Oz", as Adam Corolla said, once Saddam was taken out of power? Hindsight's a motherfucker, though), our American millitary, who aren't allowed to have an opinion about their job, are in the midst of a style of war they have never seen, and are dying because of it.
I'd be curious to see how the military will vote in the coming election. I'd at least think that enlisted soldiers would be a little sore that señor el presidente is not providing them with an adequate amount of equipment. Also, the government is charging single enlisted soldiers their normal $400-$1200-a-month rent for their apartments back in the U.S., many of which are occupied by other soldiers who have returned from Iraq. Meanwhile, these same soldiers are living in tents in Iraq. $1,200 to live in a tent in a desert? that money could go towards kevlar vests or something worthwhile.
