Pearl River The story of the sixties is contentious. Some of the social and cultural changes lie just below the surface of current political debates and controversies. Some people are embittered. Some are nostalgic. There is one common experience that is a central truth for the sixties generation and that is war as a dominant experience, thanks to the Vietnam conflict.
How was this different than American excursions in the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Simply put, these were foreign conflicts remote to most family and community experience, because there was no mandatory conscription or draft. As all US presidents seem to have learned deeply, the country can spend blood and treasure on such military misadventures, as long as these wars are essentially “over there” and are not felt “over here.” We may have now reached the extreme expression of such gaslighting and doublespeak as Vice President Vance currently claims Trump’s war with Iran is not a war at all.
In the sixties, the draft changed all of that. Families were intimately involved along with their sons and often daughters, even if more indirectly. Decisions had to be made. Futures set or undermined. Arguments waged or agreements made. The shadows of the war remained for decades even with the bitter end of the war.
The Russian government has had to deny that they are now preparing to institute a draft for military aged men throughout the country to fill its diminishing ranks in the Ukrainian invasion. Despite the claim, reports indicate that many men are making real and contingency plans to hide or run if the country calls for mass conscription. The government can’t deny that it has suffered huge losses of hundreds of thousands of deaths and even more injuries, as well as used mercenaries, prisoners, and foreign soldiers to fill its ranks. Nonetheless, it there might be a quicker path to finally force Russia to end its invasion, nothing would guarantee that Putin would finally have to end this tragic pursuit of territorial gain than instituting a draft that brought the Ukrainian war home to every Russian community and family. We are already reading that Ukrainian drones causing gas price hikes and destruction deep in the country have unsettled much of the Russian public. A draft would end this war.
Even in Israel where all reports indicate there has been continued support for much of Israel’s military activity in Gaza, until more recently, as the tide of international opinion and support for Netanyahu has diminished, the draft along with settler terrorism in the West Bank, rightwing political extremism at home, and attack on democratic institutions and courts are cited as causes. As is typical of drafts, though perhaps more pronounced in Israel where military service for men and women is mandatory and expected, the inequity of huge religious exemptions has made it an issue. Even in Ukraine as the country fights for its independence, the draft is often an issue whenever there has been an effort to lower the age of conscription and military aged folks have also fled the war there as well.
US Defense Secretary Hegseth seems to hate the fact that a “volunteer army” means that 40% of the troops are nonwhite, that women are in the service, and that nonwhite men and women have risen in the ranks to top ranks of leadership. Recruiting isn’t easy, and he’s made it harder for military recruiters to fill the ranks of volunteers, but no matter how biased he is or crazy Trump might be, neither of them are foolish enough to mention the “d” word and suggest that might be the solution.
It would be a better world if we could end wars with simply good judgment and the promises of peace, but in the meantime, nothing ends war like instituting a draft.