You and the Military

by Alan Shapiro

Student Reading 7:
Is America a nation at war?

With the Iraq war in its third year, American casualties continuing to rise, Iraqi deaths soaring, and no end in sight, the New York Times reports (7/24/05) that military officers and enlisted men and women "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 has been no tax increase to pay for the war's cost of $200 billion (and counting); no gas rationing or government savings-bond drives, as there was in World War II; no draft, as there was during the Vietnam War. "Nobody in America is asked to sacrifice, except us," said one officer just back from Iraq.

Charles Moskos, a professor of military sociology at Northwester University, 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."

"For most Americans," said an officer with a year's experience in Iraq, "their role in the war on terror is limited to the slight inconvenience of arriving at the airport a few hours early."

David C. Hendrickson, a scholar on foreign policy and the presidency at Colorado College, said, "Bush understands that the support of the public for war-especially the war in Iraq-is conditioned on demanding little of the public."

Bob Herbert, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, wrote recently (6/27/05): "The all-volunteer Army is not working. The problem with such an Army is that there are limited numbers of people who will freely choose to participate in an enterprise in which they may well be shot, blown up, burned to death or suffer some other excruciating fateÖ.

"There are always plenty of hawks in America. But the hawks want their wars fought with other people's children. The problem now is that most Americans have had plenty of time to digest the images of people being blown up in Baghdad and mutilated in Fallujah, and they know that thousands of our troops are coming home in coffins, or without their arms, or without their legs, or paralyzed, or horribly burnedÖ.

"A clear divide is developing between those who want to continue the present course and those who feel it's time to craft an exit strategy. But with volunteers in extremely short supply, an even more emotional divide is occurring over the ways in which soldiers for this war are selected. Increasing numbers of Americans are recognizing the inherent unfairness of the all-volunteer force in a time of war. That emotional issue will become more heated as the war continues. And it is sure to resonate in the wars to come."

In an op-ed column a week earlier (6/20/05), Herbert wrote: "If the United States had a draft (for which there is no political sentiment), its warriors would be drawn from a much wider swath of the population, and political leaders would think much longer and harder before committing the country to war."

For discussion

1. What questions do students have? How might they be answered?

2. Are you aware of any "sacrifice" that you or any other members of your family have made as a result of the Iraq war? What?

3. What do you think Professor Moskos means by "patriotism lite"?

4. Do you agree with Hendrickson's view of Bush's policy? Why or why not?

5. Why does Herbert think "The all-volunteer Army is not working"? Do you agree with his view that "Increasing numbers of Americans are recognizing the inherent unfairness of an all-volunteer force in time of war"? Why or why not? Whether you agree with Herbert or not, do you think a draft would be a fairer way to provide soldiers for the military in time of war? What do you think Herbert's view is? Why?

For more information

If any students have family members who have served in the military, invite them to discuss why they entered one of the services and what their training was like. Overall, how do they evaluate their experience in the military?

For student action

Among the websites providing information about counter-recruitment activities are the following: United for Peace and Justice (www.unitedforpeace.org), American Friends Service Committee (www.afsc.org), Gold Star Families for Peace (www.gsfp.org), and Leave My Child Alone (www.leavemychildalone.org)

This essay was written for TeachableMoment.Org, a project of Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. We welcome your comments. Please email them to: lmcclure@morningsidecenter.org.

Back to top