what are we fighting for?

BRIGHTMOOR JOURNAL august 16, 2005 Cindy Sheehan is a brave lady. She is protesting the war in Iraq. I respect her. President Kennedy once noted that the chinese symbol for crisis is made of two characters, one denoting disaster the other opportunity. People who call this a volunteer military do not recognize economic reality. And just because you join the military does not need you ought to be fodder for military adventure. You can't get into a mess like South VietNam or Iraq without the intention of making a de facto 51st state. Otherwise you admit to the proposition we are simply there for an undetermined period of time sacrificing our youth and killing people. The horrors of life under Saddam are right up there with the atrocities common in history. What can we do to insure that a strongman won't take over as soon as we leave the desert? We can't. Ending the VietNam era draft was in part done because it had become a farce with so many loopholes for the priviledged that it resembled the tax code. Not having anything like the WPA, the CCC or any economically viable alternative to the military it is not surprising to see the socio-economic profile of the enlisted ranks to be quite the same as it was in the draft. That is why people who opine that these volunteers know what they are getting into and David Horowitz seems to think they get what they deserve is elitist calumny. They should swallow their tongues.