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Sunday, July 24, 2005

Hey, we put a ribbon magnet on the Hummer, what the heck do they want, anyway?
Posted by Jill | 1:36 PM

U.S. troops and their families are becoming justifiably tired of having to carry the whole weight of Bush's war on their shoulders while the folks at home refuse to sacrifice a damn thing:

The Bush administration's rallying call that America is a nation at war is increasingly ringing hollow to men and women in uniform, who argue in frustration that America is not a nation at war, but a nation with only its military at war.

From bases in Iraq and across the United States to the Pentagon and the military's war colleges, officers and enlisted personnel quietly raise a question for political leaders: if America is truly on a war footing, why is so little sacrifice asked of the nation at large?

There is no serious talk of a draft to share the burden of fighting across the broad citizenry, and neither Republicans nor Democrats are pressing for a tax increase to force Americans to cover the $5 billion a month in costs from Iraq, Afghanistan and new counterterrorism missions.

There are not even concerted efforts like the savings-bond drives or gasoline rationing that helped to unite the country behind its fighting forces in wars past.

"Nobody in America is asked to sacrifice, except us," said one officer just back from a yearlong tour in Iraq, voicing a frustration now drawing the attention of academic specialists in military sociology.

Members of the military who discussed their sense of frustration did so only when promised anonymity, as comments viewed as critical of the civilian leadership could end their careers. The sentiments were expressed in more than two dozen interviews and casual conversations with enlisted personnel, noncommissioned officers, midlevel officers, and general or flag officers in Iraq and in the United States.

Charles Moskos, a professor emeritus at Northwestern University specializing in military sociology, said: "My terminology for it is 'patriotism lite,' and that's what we're experiencing now in both political parties. The political leaders are afraid to ask the public for any real sacrifice, which doesn't speak too highly of the citizenry."


No, it doesn't. And when you have the 101st Fighting Keyboarders and the College Republicans giving lip service to supporting the troops, but of course the Jonah Goldbergs and the Nathan Taylors and the Ben Shapiro's have far more important things to do than actually ENLIST in the military, or even send a fucking USO care package. Why NOT just let the kids from the poor towns in the red states do it all.

But these armchair generals are simply following the lead of their own Fearless Leader, who when his country called him, found a cushy way out (Ann Coulter's claims that Bush was in more danger flying sorties over Texas than any soldier in Vietnam was notwithstanding).

These are the people who decry the "if it feels good, do it" society, and yet these are the people who advocate tax cuts for the wealthy at a time of war, who refuse to acknowledge our need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels while American young people are dying in an oil-rich country, who vote for Congressional representatives who vote to slash veterans benefits, and who refuse to put their own asses on the line to fight the war of the president they worship.

Every time a Jonah Goldberg says that he can't go to Iraq because he has a wife and baby at home, it's a slap in the face to every man stuck in Fallujah who couldn't be there when his child celebrated his first birthday.

If we are not willing to sacrifice anything at all in order to fight this war, then it's a war we have no business fighting. Period. And if this president of lies and deceit can't come up with a compelling reason why we're there, then he should get us the fuck out of there, and step down for fucking it up this badly.
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