2006-02-23

Joey B. King

In the Hands of the Young

According to Lisa Hartman’s article that appeared in the 5 February edition of the Tennessean, one of the most respected military experts in the world, Anthony Cordesman, has concluded that the outcome of the war in Iraq is still very much up for grabs. I concur with Mr. Cordesman’s findings, and I wish to add another perspective.

The outcome of this war is based on the military’s ability to recruit people (mostly young men) into the combat arms branches of the US Army and Marine Corps: That is a major paradigm shift in recent years. The ancient Romans used conscription (draft) to fill their ranks, so did the colonial European powers. Santa Ana invaded Texas with conscripted Mayans. The Confederate and Union Armies drafted. The US military drafted from the early-1940’s to the early 1970’s. Since then (with the exception of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan), our wars have been short and sweet.

In steadily declining numbers, young people are choosing other options besides the military. Even with relaxed standards for age weight, age, fitness and recent marijuana use, only 700 young people enlisted in the Army in December 2005. The proposed Pentagon budget this year is a staggering half-trillion dollars. What if no one showed up to drive the tanks or carry the rifles?

America has experienced several anti-militaristic periods since 1776. The last ones occurred in the 20-year period between WWI and WWII, and in the immediate post-Vietnam era from 1975-1980. Are we about to experience another? What if the recruiters simply aren’t able to recruit enough young people? What if young people saw their shattered friends returning from Iraq; a shell of their former selves and refused to join? I think it is politically impossible to institute a draft because 2006 is an election year. Men and money are required to fight a war of occupation, so it is imperative that we change the hearts and minds of the young if we are to stop the war-machine now and in the future.

Based on the declining recruitment numbers, we can say that young people are increasingly seeing the all-volunteer armed forces as a bad choice. Even joining the “part-time” military is becoming a burden. In fact, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared before the National Press Club on February 17 and said that for the foreseeable future Reserve and National Guard brigades will spend five years in the US and one year deployed. He went on to say that the armed forces can keep that up that pace indefinitely (assuming enough people join).

We can conclude that in a “non-draft” scenario, the imperialism of the oligarchs is restricted by the number of recruits it can attract. This is a giant step forward for humankind. Contrast this with “wars of liberation.” The American revolutionaries did not need to draft, neither did the Cubans. The current Iraqi insurgents aren’t drafting either; it is all volunteer…and probably unpaid too.

We might think of a draft as the distinguishing factor of the “righteousness” of any cause in the eyes of the people. If people view the mission as critical, enough volunteers will step forward to fill the ranks. What delineates a “war of liberation” from a “war of imperialism/choice” is probably up for debate. It is clear to a majority of Americans (55%) now that the Iraq war is a war of choice.

General Pace assumes that young people will continue to volunteer. The power brokers weren’t saying that in 1966, so in the intervening 40 years some progress has indeed been made. Future oligarchs will have to limit militarism to the amount of young people they can con into signing papers...the old ways just don’t work anymore.