Supply Side Vs. Demand in the Military

Why does it appear as if nobody gives a hoot about Iraq or the possibilities of War in Iran.

That's easy.

Most people are simply not affected directly.

I recently read a Harvard study that put that fact into perspective.

First we have a volunteer army that touches less than one percent of the American population. LESS THAN ONE PERCENT!

In WWII, 12% of the population was engaged and because there was a draft on, anyone could be called. Even in Vietnam, it was two percent and those were selected by the draft.

But today's Army, as volunteers, is separate and distinct from the average American.

Moreover, aside from the volunteers being driven unmercifully by the government into tours in Iraq as frequently as one every other year, and the rest of us being asked to sacrifice nothing, an air of unreality has formed around Iraq and Afghanistan that beclouds the issue. What is real? What is not?

The government has helped in this context by telling everyone that things are getting better. The more keen-eyed recognize that we are rapidly sinking into a morass… that will extend the War throughout the Middle East..

Moreover, the president has not asked Americans to give up anything in support of the war.

According to him, in fact, increased consumption is good for America.

So we still buy gas guzzlers. We still purchase high octane. We still do not separate our plastics from our glass containers. And we go about our lives that our volunteer force is being paid to do all the heavy lifting but it is a dangerous way to think. We are all part of this tawdry mess and unless we all start thinking about working towards a realistic solution, we shall all suffer for it. .

Nor are our veterans insensitive to the fact that few care what happens to them.

Based on interviews with National Guardsmen and our volunteer Army, we discover that a very high percentage will resign the first chance they get. This includes the experience NCO’s who are invaluable in the training and guidance of any armed force. Moreover, possible candidates are discouraged by the accounts they see and what they hear about the Army and it is doubtful they will volunteer at least those who are being most sought after to fill high level MOS categories where the needs are greatest..

Nontheless, America’s present leadership is positioned to embrace war now and in the future and consequently an impasse is brewing. Where will we get the qualified troops to fulfill our expanded missions to bully and police the entire world.

The answer has to be in a draft. And when that happens, as many are sure it will, all of a sudden we shall discover that the tumult that surrounded Vietnam has never really disappeared.

Americans who are holding down jobs and keeping their families afloat do not want to fight a battle on some far off shore to fulfill the psychic needs of our president. They chafe at that idea.

And if we continue on the heading we are embarked upon now, the emergence of a draft will turn the people against the government in the same way it did during Nixon's day when he blamed it on the eastern intellectual establishment and the power of the media.

We wonder who Bush will blame it on now as we gird for a very uncertain future.

Les Aaron