The war in Iraq and troop safety/the draft

Amneris

With all the suicide bombings, people getting killed and seemingly no desire to have the US there, why is the US still sending troops to Iraq? Isn't that a cavalier way to treat the lives of your citizens? How can you ask for respect and support for the troops and then send them to die - and not even for a noble cause worth dying for? And why isn't the military more angry about this - or are they?

I bring this up because I am convinced the draft is coming. My African-American relatives living in predominantly A-A areas say the military is always there recruiting, promising free college to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it, and so on. I have cousins whose families belong to the Nation of Islam and they have stated they don't want to make war on their fellow Muslims - just like many Blacks did not want to go to Vietnam to kill other visible minorities. My cousin says he read on the net that some white people were saying that since blacks are so willing to kill each other and love shooting each other so much, why not do it in Iraq? Apparently the US is now having a hard time recruiting people for military service - doesn't that tell them something?

Cherish

Amneris wrote:

With all the suicide bombings, people getting killed and seemingly no desire to have the US there, why is the US still sending troops to Iraq? Isn't that a cavalier way to treat the lives of your citizens? How can you ask for respect and support for the troops and then send them to die - and not even for a noble cause worth dying for? And why isn't the military more angry about this - or are they?

I guess they feel they need to finish what they started. Get the country all civilized and rolling along with democracy.

I bring this up because I am convinced the draft is coming. My African-American relatives living in predominantly A-A areas say the military is always there recruiting, promising free college to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it, and so on. I have cousins whose families belong to the Nation of Islam and they have stated they don't want to make war on their fellow Muslims - just like many Blacks did not want to go to Vietnam to kill other visible minorities. My cousin says he read on the net that some white people were saying that since blacks are so willing to kill each other and love shooting each other so much, why not do it in Iraq? Apparently the US is now having a hard time recruiting people for military service - doesn't that tell them something?

There has been talk of a draft coming ever since 9/11, but it still hasn't come. The military is indeed stretched thin, but I don't think the draft will come just over these situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think it would take a new "threat" to the US.

urbancurl

I don't think there will be a draft anytime soon. But I get the worry, Amneris. The military recruiters will continue with their unfair targeting of young people in neighgborhoods without many options (read= Black), but from the sampling of things I've heard, I don't think there will be a draft. And surprisingly, I read in a journal I really like, Black Commentator.com, an article that claimed that having a draft would actually EVEN OUT the demographics of who would go to war. That many white, middle class young men would be drafted as well, and that is essentially why there will be no draft-- because the powers that be (most of 'em white) do not want THEIR kids going to war. If anyone is really interested, I will try to find the article in their archives. I know my account of it is vague!

My little brother is in Military Intelligence (an oxymoron?) with the Department of Defense and I asked him about a draft recently, and he said No, there is still more than enough of a pool of people in the various divisions. He is in Iraq, poor thing, and also believes we have no business being there. In regards to safety, besides the obvious, one thing I worry about for him and everyone there is all of the environmental pollutants, like the depleted uranium that is known to cause many neurological and digestive diseases.