War Weary

Over the weekend I happened to watch General Mchrystal's interview with 60 Minutes concerning the increasingly bleak situation in Afghanistan.  I will for a moment forget the fact that the General mentioned the rather shocking fact that he has only spoken to the President once since he's been in country.  Instead I wanted to focus on the idea, mentioned in many media circles, that the American public is "war weary."

This statement is based on recent polls asking Americans whether or not they would support an additional increase in troops sent to Afghanistan that the General has recently requested.  The polls show a split, at best, and probably more a pessimistic view on the whole enterprise.  Media pundits and even politicians say it is because the country is tired of fighting these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The problem, as I see it, in these statements is the fact that the country is NOT and has NOT been fighting these wars.  It has only been those of us in the military, along with the intelligence and law enforcement forces, who have done all of the fighting.  In fact, it is precisely because so few Americans actually serve in the military that those of us that do end up having to deploy multiple times.  Many of my fellow Marines, who remain on active duty, have been to one of these two theaters some four or even five times. 

Does anyone else think this is not just crazy, not just morally repugnant, but also the exact wrong way to go about fighting this conflict against terrorism?  I would argue that the only way wars are ever won is when the entire nation is mobilized for the fight.  Is there any doubt that if we put the entire might of our country behind our efforts and had every single citizen pitching in, that would could accomplish this mission?  I know I have no doubts.  We have taken on far more difficult fights in our history and whenever the country was united behind the fight, we came out on top.

When I hear people saying that the country is "war weary" I ask who exactly are they talking about?  Not the millions of people back here who don't even think about anything beyond the economy or the odious health care debate.  Not the media who have little interest in the sacrifices of our military now that President Bush has left the stage.  And definitely not the politicians who claimed that Afghanistan was a "war of necessity," only to dither when the going gets tough and the polls change.

That's not war weariness.  That's selfishness.  And it makes me pine for days when their was a draft.

So, what do you think - should the draft be reinstated?