Letters: America’s wars in the modern world
Re “The misuse of American might,” Opinion, Jan. 12
There’s one sure way to make Washington “think anew” and “revive the tradition of treating [war] as a last resort”: Bring back the draft.
Though conscription effectively ended in 1973, we thereafter enjoyed nearly three decades of relative peace. The only notable interruption was the 1991 Persian Gulf War, wherein actual hostilities lasted just a few weeks.
The draft put at risk all of American society; for much of our history, rich and poor alike suffered the privations that come with military duty. After the draft’s end, its memory made most citizens, including politicians, keenly aware of the horrific costs of war.
However, memories of the draft eventually faded and enlisted-level military service became relegated to our politically impotent lower classes. By 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq, most Americans no longer felt they had much skin in the game of war.
Bringing back the draft would ensure that both voters and their elected decision-makers would view war as a last resort.
Gene Martinez
Orcutt
If the greatest military power on Earth can’t win a war, perhaps the definition of winning has over-evolved. Our current standard seems to require wading into tribal cultures halfway around the world and changing them to Western-style democracies.
Changes of that magnitude normally follow conquest or colonization. Only a miracle could produce them from a half-hearted decade or so of armed social work, and only a nation in the grip of baby boomer-think would pretend otherwise.
Send your army when you intend to destroy an enemy, and not until.
Michael Smith
Cynthiana, Ky.
There is no valid reason young men in their prime should have to go to war and be killed or maimed to make countries democratic. The warring sects in Iraq and Afghanistan have no idea how to respect each other’s cultures. The Al Qaeda ruffians have no regard for human life.
Each country’s government and military should be able to solve their internal strife. The United States may consult, but we must not send our troops overseas unless we are directly affected.
The United States was right to go after Osama bin Laden; when he was killed, that should have been the end of the war.
Lucille Braverman
Woodland Hills
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