Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/06/21/quagmire-2-0.html
…
10 Likes
“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.” ~ Robert Wilson Lynd
45 Likes
Duh… because sign up for maybe some hazardous but non shooting duty for some pretty good college funds on the other end has turned into sign up for an all expenses paid trip to the warzone and not much else. I wonder why nobody is eager to sign up?
40 Likes
A fine accurate posting but the associated headline can be read with undue optimism. That is, American can certainly go to “war”/police-action/war-in-all-but-some-narrow-legal-sense without reinstating a draft. That’s what it did in Iraq, and that’s what nearly happened about one day ago but for Putin telling trump to leave Iran alone (because Russia have plans for Iran. And wants no U.S. involvement there). So perhaps a better headline might be:
American should only conduct a (congressionally approved) war if the draft is reinstated (and thereby it wouldn’t happen due to political fears)
nah… that doesn’t scan well, does it?
19 Likes
Cadet Bonespurs won’t hesitate to re-instate the draft. He knows from personal experience how to set things up so that the children of wealthy people won’t find themselves on the sharp end, if anywhere on the pole.
If you want to hear an eye-watering stream of invective, ask any veteran of Iraq what he thinks of “stop-loss”. With a policy like that you might as well wait to be drafted instead of volunteering to be drafted.
25 Likes
This guy is only right if you assume we’re pursuing a victory. As @theophrastus points out, these concerns will not stop us from starting a war.
We have the military resources necessary to convert Iran into a failed state, similar to Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
19 Likes
Look, that christian apocalypse aint gonna apocalypse on it’s own! Only way Mr. Bolton is gonna get Jesus to come back is by fucking with Iran.
39 Likes
Trump would institute a draft exactly like his tariffs, exemptions for the right people with the right politics.
16 Likes
Yeah, we certainly will go to war without any forethought, planning, rationale… really, any thought at all.
12 Likes
Fortunately, unlike tariffs, only Congress can initiate the draft process (though the president can prevent it by refusing to sign in into law).
Unfortunately, Congressional Democrats have a history of rolling over and showing their bellies to the hawks the minute the war-mongers get their bomb boners on.
14 Likes
The reality is that the “all volunteer” US forces are entirely dependent on mercenaries to get the job done (the ratio of soldiers to “military contractors” in Iraq was 50 times the ratio from the Vietnam War
There are several reasons for this. 1) Private and government entities needing extra protection that can’t call on the military directly, 2) The very high pay for such works makes it sort of a no brainer when debating to re-up or go private 3) Part of this is because actual regular operations has largely winded down, while there is still danger in the area 4) There are probably some other reasons such as clandestine ops.
There is a clear and easy fix for that - just outlaw the private mercenary use, at least for any government and military operations. I suppose private companies and entities will always need private protection. But if it is for US gov and military related stuff, keep it in the family, so to speak. You could set up a program to repatriate private contractors back into the service.
But the above point is moot when you think about how stupid it would be to enter another war with Iran. It would be at least as costly as Iraq. Possibly more so, because I don’t see Iran pulling any punches in their defense. They are arguably better equipped and have more weapons than Iraq was ~15 years ago. They know what failure means. Mountains are notorious for their defense. It would be a long, drawn out shit show, just like last time. And for what?
It isn’t worth the financial nor human cost for an actual invasion.
14 Likes
Great idea, but I can’t afford as many legislators as Eric Prince and Betsy DeVos. /s
15 Likes
(source unknown.)
When you look at the insane amount of money the US spends on its military, then realize there aren’t enough troops to actually fight a war, it illustrates just how corrupt the military-industrial complex is-- we’re buying missiles that get used once (basically million-dollar-fireworks), or worse, technology that never gets used because it’s obsolete or defective. And that’s not including the likelihood of outright graft that’s probably going on, because it’s “unpatriotic” to question the military.
30 Likes
Stephen Miller would surely mastermind an illegal draft designed to “own the libs” by conscripting only the children of left-leaning people. The red hats would eat that shit up.
10 Likes
“The All-Volunteer Force was barely able to sustain two large, but low-casualty, campaigns [in Iraq and Afghanistan] — neither of which has resulted in anything resembling a U.S. strategic victory.” But, in fairness, additional troops would not have made a difference in the Iraq or Afghanistan outcomes, save for providing additional targets for insurgents.
5 Likes
Fuck this shit. If these fat ass politicians want to fight a war they can send their own sons and daughters. Imagine Ivanka pinned down in a fox hole. Now that would be justice. I’m sure Bolton and Pompeo have kids too.
6 Likes
Doctors who are losing money giving out fake vaccination exemptions as states crack down could switch their business models to giving out fake “This patient can’t serve because they have bone spurs” diagnoses.
10 Likes
I think it would actually be orders of magnitude more expensive.
15 Likes
“Die for Cadet Bonespurs! It’s an Order!”
Consequences and planning be damned! The man wants a war, and a parade, and a monarchy. “By hook or by crook.”
Remember, this is Trump and his administration. He’s the guy that doesn’t pay his workers. All that matters is for him to get what he wants, and right now he wants a nice war to distract everyone.
9 Likes
