July 8, 2005

Commentary

Suckered in by used war salesmen

Robert Asghar

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., and other members of Congress have attacked the media for a negative tone on the Iraq war that may be affecting military recruiting. Inhofe is annoyed that journalists have dared to expose the quackery behind neoconservative foreign policy prescriptions.

Inhofe’s office did not return phone and e-mail messages from me inquiring if he encourages his own family and relatives to go off to the front lines. Yet just as CCR wailed, “I ain’t no senator’s son” in mocking how the progeny of the powerful escaped Vietnam, I would not be stunned to find that the Oklahoma senator is another member of a Used War Salesmen caste that expects others’ children to handle their dirty work.

The saddest aspect of last year’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” is that Michael Moore’s thick propaganda and errors unwittingly padded the wallop of his best pile drivers, such as his point that our leaders have evaded any personal cost for their planet-sized decisions.

As for the used war salesmen, a conversation on their lot goes like this:

“Good morning, son, can I interest you in a Certified Pre-Owned War today?”

“Well, I’m just looking but I’m not sure. I’d love to do something for my country. The thing is I’ve got good grades and a scholarship offer to Penn State -- and my family tells me that the only people who go into the military are the ones who can’t afford college.”

“Son, statistically there’s some truth to that, but don’t ever listen to your family. Your country needs you out there in a war like, say, this one over here in Iraq.”

“Boy, it seems like it needs a lot of work. I’d need to think about it.”

“Fine, fine, but I’ve got a lot more patriotic young men swinging by this afternoon to look at this war. I’d hate to see you get squeezed out of this opportunity of a lifetime.”

“So would you trust your own son in this jalopy?”

“Um, that’s what you’d call a special circumstance. He’s got a bright future ahead of him in industry.”

“Thank you, sir. That’s what I needed to know.”

It’s been tough to win in recent decades for the American military, thanks to the talk-is-cheap decision-making style of its civilian leadership.

Richard Nixon dumped the draft in 1973 in a bid to quell the Vietnam controversy. Now, even after the defining moment of Sept. 11, 2001, you can’t pay a rich young man or a well-educated young woman to enter a military that is commissioned to defend humanity’s highest aspirations.

Is this the media’s fault? Hardly. As to video reports of daily carnage, sociologist Neil Postman long ago noted that the small screen of television news depicts blood more effectively than it depicts budget proposals. Savvy politicians have to factor that into their military planning.

The former draft system was flawed, what with its wiggle room for the children of the privileged. The best war wisdom for the 21st century, as articulated by figures such as Northwestern University sociologist Charles C. Moskos, calls for good old-fashioned mandatory national service without loopholes for eggheads or the offspring of senators and millionaires.

Not many honest souls believe the Iraq war has improved American and global security, or that its messy nascent democracy will kill the seeds of Mideast terror. That doesn’t mean our leaders have learned tangible lessons yet.

“Damn your principles,” said Disraeli. “Stick to your party.” But politicians would find it harder to heed such words if their own children’s necks were on the line, not simply the necks of a disproportionate number of bright and brave Southern high school grads in search of opportunity.

Jenna Bush on the front lines, side by side with congressmen’s sons and daughters: That would send a more powerful message to potential army recruits — and to the world — than would a few CNN puff pieces about the Iraq war.