The New American Segregation: The Military

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_new_american_segregation_the_military_20110531/

CHICAGO—It seems that I see American soldiers only at airports. Walking forever through O’Hare here, every man and woman in uniform is greeted by the same line: "Thank you for your service."

At American Airlines, military personnel are allowed to board before other economy class passengers, after first class and business class passengers are comfortable in their big chairs.

It all makes me cringe. The reason for all this small courtesy is the guilt felt by the rest of us. This small band of brothers and sisters are doing our most difficult work, much of it as unnecessary as it is dangerous.

The volunteer military is the new American segregation. They know it and we know it. We also know that sooner or later a detached military will undermine democracy itself. Interestingly, Adm. Mike Mullen, the retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has spent a good deal of his time and energy trying to get this point across to the nation.

More at the link --

[tritsofme]

1. Wow, this guy is an idiot. nt

[joeybee12]

2. Much of it as unnecessary as it is dangerous...no, the guy's pretty smart...nt

[izquierdista]

3. Sounds spot on to me

"Warfare has become something for other people to do," added Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Maybe those "other people" should be Afghanis, Pashtuns, Iraqis, Somalis, Libyans, Congolese, just about anybody EXCEPT Americans. Bring them all home now, close the foreign bases, and quit thinking up bullshit "missions".

[Sonoman]

4. Spot on, especially this part....

"The all-volunteer military is, to me, Richard Nixon’s last dirty trick. He pushed for it in 1969 because he understood the root cause of demonstrations against the war in Vietnam was the anguish and anxiety of young people concerned about being drafted—and killed. End the draft and you end the demonstrations—and that is what happened. As Gates said, we became a nation with a paid army, young men and women drawn from the poorer parts of the country, volunteering in the hope of breaking out of ghettos of despair, poverty, ignorance and boredom.

They fight well, very well, our volunteers. Our role, in addition to paying them, is to watch. War has become like the National Football League. Yeah, a few guys get hurt, but it’s all pretty exciting entertainment—and it’s free for most of us. So we send the same people, our volunteers, again and again into unending wars because, though we watch the action, we actually have no personal interest in what the game is about.

I personally believe we should reinstate Selective Service or universal national service, but I know that’s not going to happen. The volunteer military is just too easy, Congress doesn’t have to do anything unpopular and the rest of us can get by saying, "Thank you for your service, whoever you are." "


I fly a lot and I feel sorry for those poor schmucks when they board. I fly First Class and I see the looks on their faces when they board. The usually seem somewhat off-balanced and slightly embarrassed.

Sonoman

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I have gotten my ass kicked around the DU block more than once

for advocating a return to the draft--a universal draft with no exemptions--in time of war. My reason has always been that it's harder to fight a stupid war when the rich as well as the poor have to put their asses on the line.

And BTW, I was drafted into the infantry in Vietnam.

[Sonoman]

6. I agree 100%

No deferments, either.

I, too was drafted. Joined the USN in order to avoid the Bad Place and ended up brown-water on a PBR, Quang Tri.

Sonoman

[Enthusiast]

9. If a war is truly warranted

everyone should participate through the draft. Otherwise we shouldn't fight that war.

[Scuba]

7. Bring back the draft, end the wars overnight. n/t

[tritsofme]

8. You would end the Democratic Party overnight too.

[era veteran]

10. A no deferment draft for military or public service

could lead us back to democracy. I was the last person at University to get lottery drafted, one digit midget, I joined the Army as that is what we do. A professional Army is not representative of the American demographic. If these rich pig war lovers had a child involved they might not so flippantly go off adventuring. There would be rioting not protesting after all these years of illegal war.