Clarification
It looks like I need to clarify my previous post. David read my post and came to the conclusion that I was proposing we reintroduce a mandatory draft into the armed forces.
I'll say it plainly: I am not an advocate for a mandatory draft and I don't support the idea of reinstituting it here in this country.
The point of my post was to highlight the striking parallels between the criticisms of Olmert's handling of the Second Lebanon War and Bush's handling of the Iraq War. The point was also to highlight where these two diverge: where Israel appoints independent commissions who release no-holds-barred truthful analysis of the actions of their leaders, the United States is still playing through the "debate" as to whether our "leaders" lied and misled this country into a senseless war, the consequences of which we will experience for a long time to come.
Yes- I do believe that President Bush and VP Cheney deliberately misled the country- and there's enough proof out there to support the claim, starting with the false assertions that Hussein was complicit in the 9/11 attacks and that Iraq had clear ties to Al-Qaeda. We know that to be false. But yet, the administration continues to peddle that theory. I can go on, but that's not the point of this post. David- I have no desire to label my "opponents" as evil and vile, especially not for the hell of it. (And shall we point to the myriad of Republicans out there who label their "opponents" as unpatriotic, America-haters, anti-family, baby-killers, evil, etc. This is not just a "Democratic" issue.)
The point here is this: Outrage from the Israeli public on the handling of this war fueled the impetus for the commission and the commission verdict was unanimous. They hold their leaders accountable for their actions to a much higher degree than we do in this country.
One major difference between Israelis and Americans is clear (besides for all others): every single Israeli knows someone who is serving, who once served, who was injured, who was killed. They are clearly more sensitive to every single soldier's death. The comments I heard on NPR made it obvious: "119 soldiers are in the ground." Those were his exact words! We blink at 119 and move on.
The bottom line is I think a draft would make people more sensitive and aware of the devestations of war, especially those not being fought on our soil (and if that point is not obvious, just take a look at the country's reaction to 9/11, the Columbine shootings, Va Tech, Oklahoma City, etc. We react much differently when it happens here, but when 20 soldiers are killed by a roadside bomb, we read the article and move on). But that doesn't mean I practically support the concept as policy.
I'll say it plainly: I am not an advocate for a mandatory draft and I don't support the idea of reinstituting it here in this country.
The point of my post was to highlight the striking parallels between the criticisms of Olmert's handling of the Second Lebanon War and Bush's handling of the Iraq War. The point was also to highlight where these two diverge: where Israel appoints independent commissions who release no-holds-barred truthful analysis of the actions of their leaders, the United States is still playing through the "debate" as to whether our "leaders" lied and misled this country into a senseless war, the consequences of which we will experience for a long time to come.
Yes- I do believe that President Bush and VP Cheney deliberately misled the country- and there's enough proof out there to support the claim, starting with the false assertions that Hussein was complicit in the 9/11 attacks and that Iraq had clear ties to Al-Qaeda. We know that to be false. But yet, the administration continues to peddle that theory. I can go on, but that's not the point of this post. David- I have no desire to label my "opponents" as evil and vile, especially not for the hell of it. (And shall we point to the myriad of Republicans out there who label their "opponents" as unpatriotic, America-haters, anti-family, baby-killers, evil, etc. This is not just a "Democratic" issue.)
The point here is this: Outrage from the Israeli public on the handling of this war fueled the impetus for the commission and the commission verdict was unanimous. They hold their leaders accountable for their actions to a much higher degree than we do in this country.
One major difference between Israelis and Americans is clear (besides for all others): every single Israeli knows someone who is serving, who once served, who was injured, who was killed. They are clearly more sensitive to every single soldier's death. The comments I heard on NPR made it obvious: "119 soldiers are in the ground." Those were his exact words! We blink at 119 and move on.
The bottom line is I think a draft would make people more sensitive and aware of the devestations of war, especially those not being fought on our soil (and if that point is not obvious, just take a look at the country's reaction to 9/11, the Columbine shootings, Va Tech, Oklahoma City, etc. We react much differently when it happens here, but when 20 soldiers are killed by a roadside bomb, we read the article and move on). But that doesn't mean I practically support the concept as policy.
posted by elanit | 4:22 PM
|
2 comments
