Not much time for considered (hah!) posting right now, but here are a few interesting articles from Slate - let's send these down the collective esophagus and see if anyone chokes.
Rough Draft: The gross unfairness of an all-volunteer Army.
"The main reason that the war remains so remote from the lives of middle-class Americans is the absence of a military draft. This is a subject that no one seems to want to talk about. Supporters of the war definitely do not want to talk about it. President Bush and Vice President Cheney react angrily to any suggestion that a draft might be needed, because they know that the prospect of conscription would make their decision to invade Iraq even more unpopular. Having lived through Vietnam and shirked the draft themselves, they understand that if people anywhere near their own station in life were forced to fight, any remaining support for wars of arguable necessity would dry up and blow away ..."
Posted by Alan Allport at March 23, 2006 04:36 AMThe main reason that the war remains so remote from the lives of middle-class Americans is the absence of a military draft. This is a subject that no one seems to want to talk about. Supporters of the war definitely do not want to talk about it.
Well, I'm a supporter of the war, and I don't mind talking about it, as I have at Harry's Place and at abg-o.
Posted by: Gene at March 23, 2006 02:43 PMTwo words about discussion of the "unfairness" of an all-volunteer army: "prelapsarian equipoise".
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at March 23, 2006 03:29 PM...let's send these down the collective esophagus and see if anyone chokes.
Hereby nominated for Metaphor of the Year.
Posted by: Martha Bridegam at March 24, 2006 01:12 PM