Now that we’ve admitted to ourselves that we have ground troops committed in Iraq, I notice that certain words and phrases are being used more often. One, repeated by some politicians and even some servicemen, is the phrase that they are “proudly fighting to protect the homeland.” I don’t doubt their sincerity.
It seems to me, though, that defense of the homeland is everybody’s responsibility, and anyone who would not help out is a slacker, or worse. Yet, the politicians and servicemen never seem to express any resentment toward those of us who live it up at home, and let them do our fighting for us.
If the homeland were truly in danger, we would draft all able-bodied men to go and fight. But we all know if that were to happen, our war would come to a screeching halt.
We all agree that our war must be pursued, even though we are unable to bring our full power to bear against the terrorists. The problem is: How can we keep a credible army in the field for an indefinite period without mobilizing the entire nation?
I suggest that we create a relatively small professional force, composed of a separate class of highly trained and motivated patriots. We can send each of these soldiers to fight over and over again until they are rendered unfit for service. Then we can discharge them, and replace them with others.
Oh, wait. We’re doing that already.
Charles DeBruler
Everett
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