This letter is in response to Jeff Cagle’s letter to the editor stating that we do not need reinstatement of the draft (“We need more careful leaders, not a draft,” Voice of the people, Oct. 1).
Cagle noted that “those we elected to be in charge of war-making powers should be more cautious as to when it is appropriate to send in troops to face the possibility of making the ultimate sacrifice.”
I concur with his assessment.
I also, however, believe this: There remains a portion of the U.S. population that continues to believe that the Iraq war was justified and necessary because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; that it was well thought out and well planned; and that it has made us safer here in America, etc.
These positions are still espoused by some, despite all the evidence now available against.
Some hold onto their narrowly focused beliefs due to their political agenda, and some due to apathy, indifference or outright ignorance.
If reinstatement of the draft was really a viable option, and all Americans faced the possibility of being drafted or having their children drafted and sent to war, I believe that those in this remaining portion of the population would take off the blinders they wear and start engaging themselves as citizens.
They would start to ask critical questions, evaluate all the evidence and hold those with “war-making powers” accountable for their decisions and actions.
There is an old saying that you get the government that you deserve. Looking at the government that we now have causes me to believe that perhaps we do need that draft, because we certainly deserve better than this.
