Tired Republican lies:
1) The war’s going great
2) Our children are happily and willingly serving in this volunteer army
3) We’d never dream of a draft
Pam points us to another great Rolling Stone article, this one about the more-real-than-you-might-like-to-believe prospect of the return of the draft.
In it, we hear from one of the happy soldiers the chickenhawks have sent to die:
David Qualls, who joined the Arkansas National Guard for a year, is one of 40,000 troops in Iraq who have been informed that their enlistment has been extended until December 24th, 2031. “I’ve served five months past my one-year obligation,” says Qualls, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the military with breach of contract. “It’s time to let me go back to my life. It’s a question of fairness, and not only for myself. This is for the thousands of other people that are involuntarily extended in Iraq. Let us go home.”
The results of the lawsuit will be fascinating. If he wins and 40,000 troops can simply walk away, I reckon the draft can’t be too far off.
Meanwhile, nothing boosts morale like scaring your volunteer soldiers into worrying they might have 25 more years of war ahead of them. I know, I know, there’s a thrillingly optimistic assessment of 2016 being bandied about the war commander break room, but tell that to the soldiers who are threatened with serving into their 50s. ["Family? FAMILY? Soldier, you can enjoy that new wife of yours once you get your AARP card, are we clear?"]
The RS piece also discusses the prospect of a skills-based draft in which doctors, electrical engineers, and other professionals with in-demand expertise would be coerced into military service.
While I hate the idea of a draft and oppose in except in the case of invasion, I must admit that forcing some of our white-collar professionals to cope with the realities in Iraq might ratchet up the distaste for this war amongst people who might traditionally vote Republican.
On the flip side, if/when they draft anyone who opposes this war because they recognize it as the selfish, masturbatory fantasies of corrupt fools, and force them to die for Cheney’s wallet, my injustice-sensing yacht will blow a fuse.
Crap. I guess what they’re doing to David Qualls and those other 40,000 troops already busted it.
2031? Jesus freaking Christ.
And I bet that’s not even close to how long it’s going to take for any mission to be accomplished in the Middle East.
I do have to wonder what the real likelihood of a draft is. I suspect the Republican infatuation with war is largely political—the fight them over there crap, gets people worked up without sacrifice. Introducing a real sacrifice would screw over their political objectives. That said, I can totally see a situation where Repub voters, while scared they’re on a terrorist hit list, still manage to convince themselves they’re invisible to the draft board.
Oh, you know that they will get excluded, though. Still, I know how loudly the Pentagon will scream at the idea of having their shiny-bright professional army messed up by ignorant, unwilling, longhaired conscripts (again), and I suspect that will be the biggest obstacle to the current administration introducing conscription.