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day of remembrance 5/27/2013 7:24:40 AM
Random thoughts on memorial day On this day of remembrance, I feel as if we’ve forgotten. Forgotten the ‘why’ of our wars. the who’s and the wherefores. I hear people thank me for my own service in Vietnam all those years ago, and I know that most people can’t begin to understand the savagery, the chaos and stupidity of war, because most Americans have not seen it first hand as I have, and as my fellow combat veterans have. I appreciate the thank you’s I get, and I would do again what I did all those years ago. But I feel we truly have forgotten critical policy factors that might one day diminish the need to thank our veterans. Here are random thoughts today, from a veteran of a long-concluded war about where we are as a people, and a possible way forward that will conclude some future wars before they start:
First, President Obama was right to conclude that the war on ‘terror’ must end. Labeling a war against an undefinable, inscrutable entity dooms that war to failure at the outset. It’s like starting a war against poor taste. According to whom? And most important to this discussion, with such a label, how do we know if we’ve won? I sometimes joke that the trouble with doing nothing is, you never know when you’re finished. A little flip perhaps in such a serious context, but ‘terror’ cannot be defined, so everyone defines it to their satisfaction. As much blowback as I get from such claims, there are many in the world community who feel that some of America’s actions constitute terrorism. Who decides?
Second, bring back conscription. For everyone, male and female alike, including the sons and daughters of those who would commit us to military action. Currently only .5% of our population serves in the military. The disconnect between our armed forces and the rest of us is an ever widening gap, and as most people lose contact with soldiers and the very machinery of warmaking, the more apathy seeps in. With conscription, most people will know, or know of, someone serving in the military. Such immediacy will apply the brakes to armed conflict through congressional contact, and local disruptions to careers and families, making us far more reluctant to commit to combat. For more on this, better metrics, and much better writing read Rachel Maddow’s brilliant book, Drift.
Amend or redraft the War Powers Act so we return to the mandate any president has to notify Congress before committing troops to war, not afterward. That simple act would make our military ventures much more transparent, giving any such action the scrutiny it needs. Had this been in place our disastrous involvement in Iraq would never have happened, and a president who lacked the vision and decency to see war for what it is would have been stopped.
Along those lines,unless families demand privacy, open up Dover AFB to any and all who wish to see the caskets coming home. Make it mandatory for presidents and Congressional leaders to visit that solemn airfield whenever their constituents arrive in their silver, flag-draped boxes. It should tell us something about presidential integrity that George Bush never visited Dover, never made the one-hour trip from the White House to greet a fallen soldier. Not once.
Finally, let’s get in the habit of thanking our troops by sending them into harm’s way less often, and bringing them home sooner.
Happy memorial Day to my fellow vets, and thanks indeed for your service.
