October 14, 2002
Americans Say: Count Me Out
Though there was a wave of enlistments after September 11 when people thought there was a clear threat and a clear enemy, there is no such thing with war against Iraq. (See The Daily News.) Apparently to what ever extent Americans are backing the administration on its war, it only extends as far as the next guy. It's fine if someone else fights it. Don't expect me to go.This is very soft support. While Bush continues to extend U.S. military commitments and to stir up enough trouble to make defending Americans a big job, there is no corresponding wave of patriotic fervor. Though the networks try to spin it, it ain't there. Americans are being dragged by the nose into this war and that does not bode well for the war mongers.
Young men of draft age need to be alert as to how these tendencies play out.