No Wonder We’re Not Out on the Streets

Whenever the issue of reinstituting the military draft comes up strong dissenting opinions soon surface. That said, my immediate reaction to renewed calls for reinstating the military draft is to support it. However, I certainly understand the many rational, reasonable and emotional reasons to oppose the reintroduction of the military draft.

While I understand why one would oppose the draft, when I read items like this, I can only say, My god, no wonder we’re not on the streets trying to stop Bush’s war of choice; since the country is not bearing the consequences of Bush’s Iraq war.

With no obvious personal stake in the war in Iraq, most Americans are indifferent to its consequences. In an interview last week, Alex Racheotes, a 19-year-old history major at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, said: "I definitely don’t know anyone who would want to fight in Iraq. But beyond that, I get the feeling that most people at school don’t even think about the war. They’re more concerned with what grade they got on yesterday’s test."

His thoughts were echoed by other students, including John Cafarelli, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of New Hampshire, who was asked if he had any friends who would be willing to join the Army. "No, definitely not," he said. "None of my friends even really care about what’s going on in Iraq."

While shoppers here are scrambling to put the perfect touch to their holidays with the purchase of a giant flat-screen TV or a PlayStation 3, the news out of Baghdad is of a society in the midst of a meltdown.