Who Will Fight This War Without End? April 12, 2004

April 12, 2004


Who Will Fight This War Without End?

Talking Points
The “State” of the Military
· Between 35 and 40 percent of those who enlist don’t compete their first term, called by military leaders, “a crisis.”
· There are 9,000 US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan: fighting Taliban and Al Qaeda units, training the new Afghan army and attempting to preserve the new government.
· A 4 or 5 year occupation of Iraq by 65,000 regular and 35,000 reserve soldiers requires a base of 260,000 active soldiers and 315,000 reserves – over half of our current total deployable ground forces.
· Compared to the Cold War numbers, the US has 700,000 fewer soldiers on the payroll.
Privatizing the Military
· More than 1,500 mercenaries in Iraq today are former members of the South African Defense Force and South African Police under the apartheid regime, providing training for Iraqi Police and security units.
· The thousands of civilians in Iraq perform tasks previously done by soldiers – from cooking and cleanup, to mine sweeping and protecting the Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Paul Bremer.
· Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld supports outsourcing and plans to cut 200,000 military jobs.
· 70 American companies have been awarded contracts totally $8 billion in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Do You Feel a Draft?
· Congress ended the draft in 1973, though it permitted “stop loss orders” to keep especially skilled personnel with combat experience. Currently, 40,000 soldiers have received stop loss orders – double the congressionally authorized ceiling of 20,000
· Twin bills (S. 89 and H.R. 163) have been brought to Congress this year. Called the Universal National Service Act of 2003, the bill will “Provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons [age 18-26] in the United State, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes.” At this time, only one bill has a co-sponsor and neither has much support.
· An SSS spokesman says that planning for a possible “special skills draft” started last fall, an extension of the existing system set up to register and draft health care personnel in more than 60 specialties.
· According to former commandant of the Army War College, Ret. US Army General Robert Scales Jr. “A return to the draft is a very bad idea whose time passed with the world wars…Drafted solders are far more likely to die in combat than long-service professionals…. Drafting teenagers and committing them to combat within only a year of enlistment will create an Army of amateurs.”
The “Economic” Draft
· Although Latinos are enlisted in roughly the same proportions as in the qualified civilian workforce – whites are underrepresented by about 10% and blacks over represented by almost 10%.
· Black women make up 35% of females in the enlisted force – 23% of black military enlisted population are female, more than any other racial or ethnic group.
· According to Vietnam and civil rights veteran Michael Simmons, speaking on studies of African American opposition to US wars in the 20th Century, “Invariably, what is found is that African Americans see going into the military as either an employment opportunity, a travel opportunity and educational opportunity, or something they can’t avoid and they don’t want to go to jail.”