Ted Rall for September 13, 2010

As the latter young ones get killed, it’s time to they turn to the teenagers. How long before the US does the same?

Ya mean like the 1960’s?

Bingo, Griz.

“How long before the US does the same?”

They accept 18 year olds… . Old enough to shoot a gun, and make life-or-death decisions, but not old enough to drink.

At the end of the nightly news hour, they post a silent tribute to those who were recently killed in action (pending confirmation and all appropriate notifications). I don’t know of a day that goes by that they don’t have a list. That is bad enough, but the number of those who are 21 and under is appalling. Yes, like the 60’s.

Yeah, but during Vietnam, it would have taken the whole broadcast to do each day’s list.

18 years old is certainly old enough to enter into contracts like enlist in the military, get married, etc. But not old enough to drink or vote out of office the old men that declare war to boost their testosterone or make war without declaring it. On the other hand, it can be “fun” to blow up mud brick buildings with 40 mm grenades launched from a rifle. Try doing that around the neighborhood back home?

The insurgency that brought the Taliban to power was fueled by those who lost family & friends to the Soviet invasion. We joined a preexisting insurgency from people harmed by the Taliban. The war orphans since we got there are growing up.

The trade route from East to West Asia has been fought over as much as the one from Asia to Africa through the “Holy Land.”

Blood doesn’t make things holy, holes make things bloody.

Your avatar is rather … eye-popping, Radish.

I agree that it is wrong to send 18 year olds into war. My thought is that we should have a mandatory draft among the entire population, no exceptions for college, political office, or cash, from among those age 25 to 40.

I’d also raise the voting age back to 21.

But the cartoon above is entirely insensitive to the children who are force to attack real soldiers by the religious fanatics who preach hatred and want to enslave them. The truth is they send much younger children out to do their dirty work. Imagine having to choose between shooting a small child or letting him shoot you or your buddies.

War is a tragedy and a horror. It should not be waged at all. But when we go there, we should go full blast with the intention of getting it over with as fast and as decisively as possible. Fer instance, like Russia took Georgia.

Dragging the ordeal out results in horrors like children soldiers, and gives room for morons like this cartoonist to pop of about things they know nothing about.

“My thought is that we should have a mandatory draft among the entire population, no exceptions for college, political office, or cash, from among those age 25 to 40.”

I don’t think 30+ year olds make good soldiers. Israel has a mandatory serving period from 18 - 21 though, I think, male and female. Just gotta watch out for the Guantanamo-like pictures ending up on Facebook.

A draft may well be a social equalizer, but in the larger scheme of things it is a tacit acknowledgement and acceptance of militarism. We should strive to eliminate war, rather than just spread the sacrifice more equitably. Making the problem more democratic and palatable is not a part of the ultimate solution.

Nobody should ever be forced to do anything.

I think the “shared sacrifice” will make more people, in general, at least think twice before wanting to bring a fight to another country and more questions will be asked before soldiers are sent in.

I do not think such a thing can be really decided with candor, though… it’s a highly emotional issue.

Is a draft consensual? What if I am unwilling and just say “No”? What if I disagree to participate, will I be censured, prosecuted, hounded? I’ve been in that situation twice. The first time, to avoid prosecution, I left. I was still censured & hounded. The assumption is usually that your war is always the just one, at least the side you were born into. Who evaluates what is going to be a just war? Who is right? Is an insurgency in one’s own country reason to accept a draft? What if I sided with the insurgency? The second time the situation was slightly different as there wasn’t a war on and I accepted, albeit grudgingly, as opposing it would still have me prosecuted, censured & hounded.

I support what sirromsirrom said, Nobody should ever be forced to do anything.

Meanwhile, Rall’s cartoon…looks like the Afghans are taking the same route as some African militia, dragging in children.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: If the president doesn’t get out of Afghanistan, this will be his Vietnam. General McCrystal was running a counter insurgency scheme and the last time that strategy was used was back in (all together kids)…VIETNAM!!

Only one guy was able to conquer Afghanistan and that person was Genghis Khan, and he did it by using the “murder everybody” strategy.

“Children are tools to achieve God’s will. And whatever comes your way, you sacrifice it.”

Seriously, the nation defended by 23 year old Classical Lit majors is doomed to failure. Conversely, most 30-35 year-olds are severely out of shape.

Soldiers need to be fit. I got out when I was 33 and lost 25 pounds of muscle in the first six months (darn desk job). Your typical 18-22 year old soldiers are perfect for war because they played sports, can run for days and are accustomed to being told what to do (by parents, teachers and coaches).

MATTRO53 -

remember “the draft” ? teenagers ? they’re STILL doing the work…

The younger a person is, the more expendable. I know that sounds terrible in a country that is more shocked by the death of children than of adults, but think seriously about it: Who is actually more valuable to society as a whole? A child who contributes nothing, who is basically a parasite whose value exists only in potentiality, or a fully formed adult in whom has been invested many years of education and life experience? Forget about the notion that children have some sacred value because the species needs them in order to survive; there are already way too many people on this planet, and one of the perverse purposes of war is to weed out enough of the gene pool to keep population levels tolerable.

Yeah, that too. No question.