Attack on Pearl Harbor
President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously decried the attack on Pearl Harbor. He described Japan’s assault as follows:
December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
(President Franklin D. Roosevelt, The Library of Congress, 1941)
But it’s arguable that September 11, 2001, is a date which will live in even greater infamy. After all, the attack on Pearl Harbor triggered a war that lasted four years. In contrast, the attacks on New York City and the Pentagon triggered conflicts that are still ongoing after twenty-one years.
Yet, World War II still stands as the deadliest manifestation of “man’s inhumanity to man.“ The estimated 70 million fatalities attest to the sacrifices we must never forget.
Trump, the Draft dodger
It’s bad enough that Donald Trump dodged the Draft. Worse yet, he shows contempt for those who served and sacrificed. That’s unconscionable.
Then there’s his cluelessness about using America’s might to help resolve conflicts. A prime example is his withdrawal of US troops from Syria. After all, they were preventing war between Turkish and Kurdish forces.
President Donald Trump declared Wednesday that the US mission in Syria is focused solely on protecting oil fields, which appears to contradict the Pentagon’s contention that fighting ISIS is the priority.
‘We’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops behind only for the oil.’
(Politico, November 13, 2019)
Reinstate the Draft
Millions of Americans sacrificed to make the world safe for democracy, defeat fascism, and contain communism. They must be rolling over in their graves. But the only way to honor them is to mandate their sacrifices. And the only way to do that is to reinstate the Draft.
The moral imperative to reinstate the Draft is greater today than it has been since Vietnam. That’s because the looming conflict between democracies and autocracies is making the Cold War look tame. Not to mention, there’s a conflict looming between the US and China over Taiwan.
Yet Congress is reluctant even to impose a wealth tax, which could represent a form of peacetime sacrifice. This tax could be a way for wealthy Americans to contribute more to societal needs. It would mirror the sacrifices poor Americans have made in all wars since WWII.
If we have to pay for the health care bill, we should pay for the war as well … by having a war surtax. … The problem in this country with this issue is that the only people that have to sacrifice are military families and they’ve had to go to the well again and again and again and again, and everybody else is blithely unaffected by the war.
(The Hill, November 23, 2009)
At the time, Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) chaired the House Appropriations Committee, the body controlling the purse strings. That was the common-sense argument he made in support of a war surtax. But even the support of Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, proved to no avail. The legislation failed.
Instead, Republican leaders are championing causes that are too perverse for words. For example, they think probing Biden’s son Hunter’s hedonistic and drug-fueled lifestyle is of greater national interest. Meanwhile, they’re blocking laws to protect the voting rights of Black Americans and democracy itself.
God help America.
* This commentary was originally published on December 7, 2022 at 7:08 am