Responsibilities

America’s treatment of its troops returning from Vietnam wasn’t very welcoming. It was our first experience with a truly questionable war though, and we weren’t sure how to handle it. From that sad past we’ve learned something, and today while most Americans are opposed to the war in Iraq for its failure from inception to execution to aftermath, we are at least not placing the blame on the troops.

But listening to a story on NPR about returning wounded troops the other evening gave me pause. One young soldier being interviewed said that he’d volunteered to serve in Iraq. He suggested that the relative merits of the war did not affect his sense of duty.

Americans have a responsibility to know the truth. Our very democracy depends on it. And right now the truth is, as we know it, the war is wrong, probably even illegal, certainly immoral. The reasons given for waging war against Iraq were false. I no longer buy the possibility of flawed intelligence. There was at best conflicting evidence, and one simply does not wage war, putting lives on every side at risk, unless the cause is beyond dispute. This administration permitted no dispute.

I have great sympathy for the men and women who were sent to Iraq before the truth was known. I have great sympathy for those National Guard members who never bargained for the missions they were assigned. True, when one signs up, one must be prepared for anything. But one also has the right to expect that the civilians in charge of their fate will act responsibly.

But as the truth of the administration’s behavior emerged, the post-9/11 hysteria for action, for revenge, should have been replaced by anger and disgust. Even though I was personally skeptical of the administration’s claims as it prepared the nation for war against Iraq, I suppose people can be forgiven for their patriotic fervor. When war was declared against the Axis, men signed up in droves for their country. But there’s nothing patriotic about signing up to fight a war that should not be fought. And I would wish that those still eager to sign up to fight in Iraq would allow themselves to be enlightened, and wage their own silent protest by staying away from the recruiter’s office. Stay away until this mess is resolved, until sanity returns to the White House. Then, and only then, offer yourself up for your country. After all — it still needs you. It just shouldn’t waste you.

The Karma of War

In America’s past, young men never shied away from going to war when their country called on them. Yes, for many wars we had a draft in place, but with the exception of the occasional person with the means to get a deferment, most conscripts reported to duty. And patriotism brought out the volunteers.

That changed during the Vietnam War. Sure reported when called up, and sure there were the patriotic enlistees, but never before had so many protested against a war, and never before had so many fled the country rather than risk being drafted. Why? Because it was a war with bad karma — it was a stupid war.

This is the case today. The all-volunteer army is having trouble meeting its enlistment goals, and I have little doubt that should the draft be reinstated young men — and this time, young women, who will surely be eligible for the draft — will again leave the country in record numbers.

After Vietnam, we kinda hoped that the United States would never again engage in a military folly of such a scale. It was a lesson learned hard. What kept our military’s numbers up in the years since was the very fact that we were mostly at peace, and the military offered a fairly attractive career or training alternative to a lot of young people. Bush did these young men and women a great disservice by sending them into another war with bad karma.

It will take years to repair the damage that George Bush has caused to our military — and future troops will need more than public relations to be convinced that when they’re about to be sent into harm’s way it’ll be for a good reason. Today America’s young are more cynical than ever — and tomorrow’s troops might very well resist being sent to fight somewhere if they think the reasons are flawed. And we can add this to George Bush’s dismal legacy.