military on my mind

i was intrigued yesterday by a newspaper article distributed by the new york times news service (the title of this blog entry is a link to the article). the title of the article in my newspaper is "troops tired of bearing the burden: americans not being asked to sacrifice for war effort, military personnel say."

honestly i hadn't really thought about what americans could do to support the war effort, mostly because i'm against the war. i understand that people who support the war either a) enlist (i realize that there are more complex reasons why people enlist than simply their "support of the war") or b) fly american flags and yellow ribbons. rather disparate modes of support.

the article makes the connection that the draft during the vietnam war was a kind of support or sacrifice that the american people made for the war. i knew about the draft in vietnam, but i did not realize that in our other wars, there were savings-bond drives and gasoline rationing. the author of the article cites these as "sacrifices" that helped to unite the country during war.

i think that the idea of sacrfice is an interesting one. a military sociologist cited in the article called what we are currently experiencing in this country is "patriotism lite." i wonder if there would be such support for the war, if everyone - not just those people who have loved ones in the military - had to sacrifice something.

what if we had to ration our gas? what if there was another draft - one that wouldn't grant exemptions for men enrolled in college? what if people really felt the effects of war at home?

i can't help but think that if americans were really asked to sacrifice for the war, we might be seriously invested in resolving the issue as soon as possible. working with the UN. pulling out. ending it.

@>-->>---