The Liberal Patriot

Message to the Bush and GOP Regime: You Cannot Have Our Sons and Daughters

Mary MacElveen - February 7, 2006

In reading Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s remarks just the other day where he stated we can be at war for the next 20 years to fight this war on terrorism, which in my book cannot be won: My message to Bush and the GOP is that you cannot have our sons and daughters.  I say daughters as well, because I put nothing past the GOP. 

With the volunteer force of the United States Military already over-extended around the world and not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, I do fear that the draft will come back.  While a part of me wishes for the draft to come back so that the elitist’s sons and daughter are also called up to suffer the horrors of war, they will find anyway to save their sons and daughters and who will be left?  It will fall on the sons and daughters of the blue-collar worker and others who have no power within this country.

While many may look to send their sons and daughters to Canada to evade this draft as was done in the Viet Nam War, Canada just elected a conservative as Prime Minister who looks to become very friendly with this Bush regime.  I do not think that Canada will provide a safe haven.

The chicken hawks who start these wars, do not really believe in a sense of duty to country when they themselves have never served.  In my opinion, they are the cowards.  Oh sure, they will stand right in front of our soldiers using them as props and grand stand, but they will never place their own in our soldier’s shoes.

They will not tolerate their own coming home in caskets, without limbs, plagued with illnesses due to depleted uranium or where in some cases, have committed suicide due to PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) On January 18th, 2006 Specialist Doug Barber took his life.  He reached the end of his rope when he came back to this country and had to fight for the health benefits that could have saved his life.

As reported in this article: A Soldier For Truth Has Fallen I was angered when I read: “For some reason Doug decided he could no longer bear the ongoing pain, agony and inner torment.”  But, I was horrified as I read this: “The Lee County, Alabama sheriff’s department was on the scene trying to talk Doug out of it for over 30 minutes. The investigating officer has stated that every effort was made to stop the situation and save Doug’s life. Doug apparently turned his back to the officers, fired one shot, and ended his life.” Is this what awaits our sons and daughters as they fight these wars for twenty years?

You may say to yourself: Oh the draft will never come back but according to Former Weapons Inspector Warns of US-Iran War this is what Scott Ritter had to say: “the Bush administration is fixing intelligence around policy on Iran," and that it could lead to a new US war in the Middle East. He noted that the administration used a similar approach in its current war in Iraq. "There is nothing to prevent the president from going to war in Iran. He has no respect for checks and balances. We're heading toward Tehran unless we get representatives in Congress who respect the constitution of the United States,"

If there is anyone to believe in this country it is Scott Ritter who is an expert in these affairs.  Do not believe what Bush tells you or what congress tells you, but believe what Scott Ritter tells you.  After all, he was correct in regards to Iraq and this government dismissed his notions that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction.  Who proved to be correct?

With tensions rising between Venezuela and the United States where just recently the Venezuelan government expelled US naval captain John Correa on charges of espionage (for trying to get Venezuelan officers to hand over state secrets) The United States government retaliated by declaring a senior Venezuelan embassy’s Chief of Staff, Jenny Figueredo Frias persona non grata and gave her 72 hours to leave the United States.

With President Hugo Chavez Frias looking to purchase more military weapons from Russia and threatening to stop supplying Americans with his country’s oil, those are as well dangerous signs of a possible invasion of Venezuela.  But, I do not fault President Chavez; I fault the sheer stupidity of this GOP led government.  Any nation has the right to protect their country from any invasion and to stop shipments of their oil to a hostile nation.

So, while we are engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, we may also be at some point engaged in war fare with such nations as Iran and yes Venezuela.  Which all begs the question: How will we fight on so many battle fields when we do not have the necessary numbers in order to do so?  Should the GOP retain both houses in this year’s mid-term election, will it embolden them even more to bring back the draft?  In order to fight these many wars for as long as Rumsfeld wants to, we will have no other recourse but to reinstate the draft.  A volunteer force will not meet the needs of this war mongering government.