Drafting a Dodger

Sometimes someone says something so asinine that I can't let it go:

"Young Americans (and their parents) need to be told that they have a duty to shoulder the burden of military service when our nation is at war, and that doing so is essential for the preservation of freedom and democracy at home and abroad."

This bit of (cough) wisdom, is courtesy of Phillip Carter, a lawyer and Army Reserve officer, and was part of an op-ed piece he wrote in the NY Times. He goes on to compare the war in Iraq to the Civil War and WWII, and to assert that George Bush should use the "bully pulpit" to exhort Americas youth into enlisting.

Bullshit.

First of all, I flatly reject the notion that the accident of my birth obligates me to give my life for any cause, under any flag. My life is mine to give, and should only be God's to take. I expect, and respect, that others feel the same.

But to put a very fine point on it, to compare this current President and his pet war to Abraham Lincoln and the war to preserve the Union, or even more so, the battle against fascist Europe and Imperialist Japan, is an insult. It is an insult to intelligence, decency, honesty, and the dead of those wars.

Lincoln's stance against slavery and the southern culture that relied on it, as well as his belief in maintaining the Union, led to the most horrific US war, one which still tests the bonds of our national unity. However you view it, it was a clear watershed in our country's history. Likewise, WWII was a watershed in world history. We know now that Hitler and the fascists of Europe, as well as the Imperial Japanese, were committing some of the worst crimes ever, as well as threatening the stability, perhaps the freedom, of the world. In both wars, a President could, and did, clearly state his goals, the reasons for war were clear, and the public understood the threat to themselves and others, and the public chose to serve in large numbers.

Which brings us to George and his pet war in Iraq. Bush has presented various possible reasons for going to war, such as the phantom WMD's, the phantom link to the 9-11-2001 attacks, or his own phantom principals, but there has been no proof of the former two, and quite a bit of counter proof to the last. The moving target of this war's justification makes it hard to believe that there is anything but personal vendetta behind this war.

But beyond that, Bush isn't a credible person to ask anyone to sacrifice. He dodged a trip to Vietnam by using daddy's political connections, and even had a sketchy service record stateside. He later slandered John McCain, a decorated war hero, then John Kerry, also a decorated war hero. Whether you like McCain or Kerry is irrelevant: they went, he didn't, they served, he slandered them. Even now, his administration has failed to provide what safety it can for service people, by rushing to war without simple things, like sufficient numbers of armored vehicles. Even now, it is becoming apparent that Karl Rove, the most sinister figure in all of American politics, used his power in the White House to expose a CIA officer as retaliation against her husband, a career public servant. Why? Because they disagreed with Bush.

So I ask: what loyalty do I owe this President? What magic power obligates any of us to risk or lose our lives for his cause? When his first priority has been to insulate himself against sacrifice, even truth, what right does he have to ask for sacrifice from others?

If the administration leading this country can't state, prove, and stick to a justification for war, the young people of this country have absolutely zero obligation to give their lives in its pursuit. Were I still a young man, or already the parent of a young person, I would be insulted and horrified by the assertion that I or my child should die, for a war that has not been properly justified, for a leader who did everything he could to avoid similar service in his own youth.