Excuse me, re-read your history. The draft was eliminated in two phases, the first being the draft lottery, the second being outright elimination. US personnel were restricted from "direct" combat operations in IndoChina by the US Congress in 1971. The war in IndoChina did not end until the army of North Vietnam captured Saigon in 1975.
Ending the draft, bringing the troops home, Vietnamization etc. etc. did nothing to end the war. That's what the chronology shows. It did allow the bourgeoisie to continue the war by proxy. The "volunteer army" is another one of those proxies. Nobody is arguing to make things worse in order to make them better, but it is a simple fact that a conscripted army from all of society is more "responsive" to the social conflicts at the root of war than a professional guard. People didn't say the same thing about Reagan and we got W. People said absolutely different things about Clinton, and we got W. Nuts? dms ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Scott Gassler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 6:49 AM Subject: Re: [PEN-L] dems, etc > Are you nuts? When has that kind of reverse strategy ever worked? > > The Vietnam War was started when the draft was in place and ended after the > draft was abolished, which mitigates (though admittedly does not demolish) > the argument that the draft fueled the antiwar movement. > > When Nixon was elected, some people said that that would expose the evils > of the right and radicalize the population. So who was the radical > president? Ford? Carter? Reagan? > > People said the same thing about Reagan, and we got W. > > Hello. It doesn't work. > > At 19:30 23/02/04 -0500, dmschanoes wrote: > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: "Peter Hollings" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 11:30 AM > >Subject: Re: [PEN-L] dems, etc > > > > > >The mandatory service bill is a poison pill. It will make unjustified war > >unpopular and unsustainable. > > > >Peter Hollings > >________________________ > >And that is the single best reason for supporting reinstatement of the > >draft. > > > >dms > > Robert Scott Gassler > Professor of Economics > Vesalius College of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel > Pleinlaan 2 > B-1050 Brussels > Belgium > > 32.2.629.27.15 >
