Sen. Tom Harkin's statement from October, 2004:
What if all-out civil war breaks out in Iraq and we have to increase our troop strength to 200,000 or 300,000 to quell it? What if a newly re-elected Bush decides to act pre-emptively against Iran, Syria or North Korea?
Today, people are hesitant to join the National Guard or reserves because of skyrocketing odds of being sent into combat or kept away from family and jobs for a year or longer. Morale, enlistments and re-enlistments are falling, at the same time that military manpower needs are rising dramatically.
So where would a re-elected Bush get the manpower to pacify Iraq while pursuing the next phases of his doctrine of pre-emptive, unilateral war? There is only one viable option: a reinstated draft.
Prediction from recently deceased Col. David Hackworth:
Although Pentagon puff artists insist they’re making quota, recruiters are already saying it would be easier to find $100 bills on the sidewalk outside a homeless shelter than fill their enlistment quotas, even with the huge bonuses now being paid. So the draft – which will include both boys and girls this time around – is a no-brainer in ‘05 and ‘06.
Bruce Springsteen, introducing his band's rendition of "War" by Edwin Starr, Los Angeles, September, 1985 (scroll down about 3/4 of page):
"If you grew up in the 60s, you grew up with war on tv every night. A war that your friends were involved in...and I want to do this song tonight for all the young people, if you're in your teens... because I remember a lot of my friends when they we were 17 or 18, we didn't have much of a chance to think about how we felt about a lot of things. And the next time, they're gonna be looking at you, and you're gonna need a lot of information to know what you're gonna wanna do. Because in 1985, blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed. Because what I'm talking about here is:
War!
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing....
Come back, Country Joe. Actually, he's back, singing his new song, Cakewalk to Baghdad:
I remember back, before we whacked Iraq
I was watching the news, were we gonna attack?
A man named Richard Perle came on and talked
He said going to Baghdad would be a cakewalk
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
It went real easy,
Took a couple of weeks
Tore down that statue
Set those Saddamites free
The Frogs and the Krauts, they feel real bad,
They missed out cakewalkin' into Baghdad
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Next we're gonna cakewalk into Teheran,
Gonna cakewalk to Damascus and Pyong-yin-yang
When we strut on in,
Everybody's gonna cheer
They'll be wavin' old glory,
We'll have kegs of beer, just like that...
...Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Now moms and dads don't worry 'bout
Your soldier boys and girls
We're just sending them cakewalkin'
Around the world
When the coffins come home and the flag unfurls
Cheer for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Do you think we'll see those Bush boys patrollin' the streets
Like our soldiers got to do in Basram and Tikrit?
We gonna see Richard Perle cakewakin' 'round
The streets and alleys of Baghdad town?
Cakewalk to Baghdad,
Cakewalk to Baghdad
Easy to cakewalk in ... not so easy to cakewalk out.
We could use Arlo about right now too.
Here's the best site, bar none Enjoy the Draft , made in assicaton with Blogpac.
