The Nieman Watchdog usually has very sound, realistic articles. But this one from Barry Sussman is just whistling Dixie. Sussman argues that because the polls show that Americans are, by and large, opposed to the war in Afghanistan we will mimic Egypt and have a "Facebook revolution" to bring our troops home now.
I agree with him that the American public had a lot to do with ending the Vietnam War. But the opposition was more than someone telling a pollster he was opposed to the war. People actually demonstrated. People marched. People ran for office on an anti-war platform. That is not happening here. In our recent elections we heard almost nothing about our militarism. Today's headlines are filled with the rantings of the deficit nutters or the attempts to make the average Joe pay the price of saving our states financially. War? People dying? People wounded? You can count the news about these issues on one hand.
It was the draft that drove the people of this country to get us out of Vietnam. It was not the polls. A professional army does have some advantages. The big disadvantage it has is that it makes us more likely to get involved in stupid wars.
I agree with him that the American public had a lot to do with ending the Vietnam War. But the opposition was more than someone telling a pollster he was opposed to the war. People actually demonstrated. People marched. People ran for office on an anti-war platform. That is not happening here. In our recent elections we heard almost nothing about our militarism. Today's headlines are filled with the rantings of the deficit nutters or the attempts to make the average Joe pay the price of saving our states financially. War? People dying? People wounded? You can count the news about these issues on one hand.
It was the draft that drove the people of this country to get us out of Vietnam. It was not the polls. A professional army does have some advantages. The big disadvantage it has is that it makes us more likely to get involved in stupid wars.
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