This is brilliant.
Edwards: No military draft if Democrats win
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) -- Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.
If played right, this will put the Bush campaign on the defensive. Bush and Cheney also claim they oppose the draft, of course, but given their war fetish, it could force them to own up to the reality on the ground, and force them to explain how they can sustain perpetual war without a draft.
As it stands today, this nation cannot sustain the current quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan and still maintain a policy of preemptive war. Cheney has made clear the US will continue to attack nations that might theoretically pose some future undefined threat to the US -- a stance impossible to maintain simply by a stop-lossed volunteer Army. Something has to give, and that something is either 1) less war, or 2) more soldiers.
And how do you get more soldiers? The answer is obvious.
I'm already on record in support of an equitable draft. If every 18 year old male and female had to serve in the military, the populace would have far less taste for disasters such as Bush's War. I mean, were losing an average of three soldiers per day, suffered 1,157 allied troops total, 7,245 of GI's officiall wounded, about 17,000 GI's also wounded, but not counted by the Pentagon.
And of those that come home physically safe, many are mentally scarred:
Among veterans from Iraq seeking help from the VA, 5,375 have been diagnosed with a mental problem, making it the third-leading diagnosis after bone problems and digestive problems. Among the mental problems were 800 soldiers who became psychotic.
A military study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July showed that 16 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq might suffer major depression, generalized anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. Around 11 percent of soldiers returning from Afghanistan may have the same problems, according to that study.
800 soldiers back from Iraq are psychotic. America, here's your future DC snipers and Timothy McVeighs. Sheez.
But don't let the news tell the story. The odd obscure wire piece isn't cutting it. People don't know of the carnage we're both enduring and causing in Iraq. With a draft, people would be paying a lot closer attention.
But I do recognize I am in the minority, and that's cool. Point is, it's electorally smart for the Kerry/Edwards team to unamibiguously state their opposition to a draft. Not let's see the issue play out in full. It may actually force the Bush camp to address some very uncomfortable questions.