Letter to Editor

iaafan · Post by **iaafan** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:18 am

Had this sent to me and figure it'll rile up a few on this board, but I don't think anyone can disagree with the last two sentences.

It's about time for our nation to reinstate the draft
I think it's high time we reinstituted the draft. The recruiters are having such a difficult time these days, and there's still a heck of a lot of evil-doers out there. We are a nation that loves its freedom, its democracy, and without a stronger military we won't be able to share it with the rest of the world.

I imagine the parents of the children of this nation might get a little upset. They'd probably demand more detailed answers from their politicians. They'd demand their media (be allowed to) more fully depict the grisly images of this war. That re-echoing sentiment of every morning's newspaper -- "but he died believing in the justness of the cause" -- might be more carefully explored. And the philosophical banter shared thoughtfully over a glass of pinot and cheese sampler at the local wine bar... well, it might become a tad bit more heated.
How many of us would have signed on for "Operation We Seriously Love the Iraqis" had it been sold to us as such? How many believe there's a positive conclusion in sight? That one is possible at all? That we stand more strongly as a nation because of this war? That our credibility has been elevated in the eyes of both ally and hostile nations? And the thousands of innocent human beings we've slaughtered over there -- what about them? What is a family when half of it has been exterminated? How does their death affect balance as it's weighed against the "ideological" war we're waging with bombs and bullets?

At the very least, the draft would make us demand some accountability. The conversation must go further than our frustration over rising gas prices or concern for our grandchildren's retirement plans. The silent disinterest of today is quite unnerving. We, the American people, are fighting a war; perhaps it's time we started acting as such.
Joshua Amidon

Bozeman

Grizlaw · Post by **Grizlaw** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 9:32 am

There is another angle to this, too; this is an argument that I've been preaching to people for the past two years.

When people talk about the cost of the war and the deficits that our country is facing (partly) because of it, I always refer them to World War II. That was an expensive war too, and guess how we paid for it? I'll give you a hint; it wasn't through deficit spending of the magnitude that we've seen for the past four years. The top federal income tax rate during World War II was just over ninety percent (90%). Just to remove any doubt as to whether what I just wrote was a typo, that is indeed a nine, followed by a zero, percent.

It would be interesting to see what would happen to support for this war among the fiscal conservatives (who insist that our current tax system imposes an unfair burden on the wealthy) if we were paying for it the way we paid for WWII, instead of running insane federal deficits that our grandchildren are going to have to deal with.

gtapp · Post by **gtapp** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:51 am

Grizlaw wrote:There is another angle to this, too; this is an argument that I've been preaching to people for the past two years.

When people talk about the cost of the war and the deficits that our country is facing (partly) because of it, I always refer them to World War II. That was an expensive war too, and guess how we paid for it? I'll give you a hint; it wasn't through deficit spending of the magnitude that we've seen for the past four years. The top federal income tax rate during World War II was just over ninety percent (90%). Just to remove any doubt as to whether what I just wrote was a typo, that is indeed a nine, followed by a zero, percent.

It would be interesting to see what would happen to support for this war among the fiscal conservatives (who insist that our current tax system imposes an unfair burden on the wealthy) if we were paying for it the way we paid for WWII, instead of running insane federal deficits that our grandchildren are going to have to deal with.

At least I would be getting something for my tax dollar.