Drafting America

Iraqis will vote on a draft of their country's first democratic constitution Saturday, yet insurgents have continued their murderous attempt to disrupt the constitutional referendum. \nEven though President Bush renewed America's pledge to secure Iraq's future and to continue the country's lead in the global War on Terrorism during a speech Aug. 24, insurgents have killed about 400 people since then. As a result, many Americans continue to ask: "What exactly are we fighting for and how do we achieve that goal?"\nUnfortunately, the answer is as complicated as the circumstances leading to the war in Iraq in the first place. Does anyone remember loose talk about WMDs or an Iraq-al-Qaida link?\nBush reminded America during his speech that the nation faces "dangerous enemies who want to harm our people." "Folks," he said, "who want to destroy our way of life." \nHe also reminded America that the War on Terrorism washed up on our shores Sept. 11, 2001, and murdered about 3,000 of our brethren. Since then, he said, terrorists have killed civilians in the global cities of Madrid, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Jakarta, Indonesia; Casablanca, Morrocco; Riyadh, Iraq; Bali, Indonesia; Baghdad, Iraq; London and elsewhere.\nWell then, what the hell are we waiting for? \nWhy don't we reinstitute the draft and throw every able-bodied American man and woman at the global terror threat?\nLet's truly send our military might on the offensive. And why not?\nIf America were to draft 5 million soldiers within the next year and deploy them as roving-freedom fighters, we could lock down Iraq and overthrow soon-to-be terrorist and already existing empire-states, "from the streets of the Western capitals to the mountains of Afghanistan, to the tribal regions of Pakistan to the islands of Southeast Asia and the horn of Africa," as Bush declared. \nIf foreign fighters are indeed arriving in Iraq from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and Libya, then let America draft an additional 7 million more soldiers to completely wipe the global terrorist threat off the face of the map. Imagine a million or more American soldiers patrolling the streets in each country rooting the terrorists from their cave-like nests and implanting democracy and freedom from the Middle East to southern Africa.\nThe current troop level in Iraq is about 156,000 and is not sustainable for genuine transformation to an independent democratic society in the short-term, nor is the soldier count significant enough to defeat a migrant-network of global insurgents in the long-term. Let us reinstate the draft so the tens of millions of Americans who support America's War in Iraq or the global War on Terrorism can stand up so the Iraqis can stand up.\nThen, and only then, will American soldiers have the chance to stand down. Think of it as a democratic world order in which the terrorists would have about 11 million more reasons not to beat women, indoctrinate children or murder their adversaries throughout the rest of the 21st century and beyond. \nThe terrorists might or might not hate our "freedom" as Bush proposes, but they certainly hope to delay the arming of a democratic Iraqi army capable of defending the country without American military assistance. In the name of the more than 3,000 Americans who have died fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq behind the banner of national security necessity, let our entire nation rise to Bush's decree to defend the country abroad with "courage and determination"