Eshin Direct

One wonders what’s up with the US Army issuing orders that service men and women destined for Iraq cannot leave when they have fulfilled the (volunteered) contractual obligation to the military. On the one hand, one wonders whether these men and women would leave the military considering that their nation is in a state of war. But the question strikes at the heart of the concept of a democratic nation.

The democracy is formed by the people and for the people. It doesn’t mean that everyone gets their way but it sure as hell means that the majority get their way. So the interests of the nation are essentially the people’s interests. Why then force people to fight? Surely, if this was a just war, and one that had the support of the people, the US government would have no end of people to send off to fight this war? Out of a population of 180 million, then discounting elderly and children, half of that number is sufficient to police some stone throwing Arabs in their own country, no?

But my suspicion is that the US has no real stomach for war. Sure, after 911, everyone was out for vengeance. And sure, it all looked impressive when they flexed their military might in Afghanistan and Iraq. But say the US government doesn’t prevent their service men and women from leaving, will the ordinary US citizen step up to the task? In a righteous war waged by a democracy, by all accounts they should.

One wonders why then the US would impose such a restriction on leaving the army. Perhaps the war isn’t so righteous after all.

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that soldiers would have to stay up to 18 months longer than their contractual obligations. It would be a hell of a blow to Bush’s re-election campaign if there was a mass exodus in the army.

In any case, the orders smack of authoritarianism and one wonders whether Bush is revealing the Nazi heritage left to him by his grand daddy.

Tags: Political Thoughts