Eternal Recurrence
It could be formulated as a law.
The longer a war goes on, the probability of a bad policy being
resurrected approaches 1.
During the Vietnam War, the
Johnson administration would be in need of more and more soldiers. The
pool of draftees was not sufficient. According to a Salon article, “By 1966, President Johnson was fearful
that calling up the reserves or abolishing student deferments would further inflame
war protesters and signal all-out war. And so, even after McNamara began
privately declaring the war was unwinnable, the defense secretary devised
Project 100,000.”
Under the
program, potential recruits who scored as Category IVs on entrance tests were allowed
to enlist. Cat IVs, to be charitable, had cognitive issues.
The project has
been acknowledged a failure in that it was sold as a “Great Society” program that
“would provide remedial education and an escape from poverty.” There was
little of either for the 354,000 men:
“...the recruitment program offered a one-way ticket to
Vietnam, where "the Moron Corps," as they were pathetically nicknamed
by other soldiers, entered combat in disproportionate numbers. Although
Johnson was a vociferous civil rights advocate, the program took a heavy toll
on young blacks. A 1970 Defense Department study disclosed that 41 percent of
Project 100,000 recruits were black, compared with 12 percent in the armed
forces as a whole. What's more, 40 percent of Project 100,000 recruits were
trained for combat, compared with 25 percent for the services generally.”
It’s plus ca
change time and this iteration is even more creative. We shall not be
targeting the intellectually lame and halt. Rather now, it will be the emotionally
lame and halt who are called to the colors.
A
November 12th, 2017 USA Today article noted; “People with a history of
“self-mutilation,” bipolar disorder, depression and drug and alcohol abuse can
now seek waivers to join the Army under an unannounced policy enacted in
August, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.”
It might be impolite,
if not politically incorrect to ask what could go wrong? For some of us
retrograde types, the words “German Wings” come to mind. You might
remember the pilot of that airline who missed his meds and pursued an
alternative method of what could be considered a “hard landing?”
Unlike Project
100,000, the new dispensation is not being sold as a program to enhance the
life of the unfortunate. As noted above, it’s unannounced which means
it’s not being sold at all. In truth, the policy appears to have been
ongoing according to USA Today: “To meet last year's goal of 69,000, the Army accepted more recruits
who fared poorly on aptitude tests, increased the number of waivers granted for
marijuana use and offered hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses.”
That’s it, of
course, there are problems meeting the numbers. By now, anyone with a
little more than average consciousness knows that we are not going to turn a
corner in Afghanistan, that we shall never do any good in Syria and the real
winners in Iraq may be those horrible Iranians.
So, what is
the point?
The possible
upcoming crusade on North Korea might not be a selling point either. Thus,
creativity in augmenting the number of troops will be necessary.
Should we be
worried? During my inglorious Vietnam era service, there was no dearth of
Marijuana usage as well as other substances. What were referred to at the
time as “personal problems” were hardly non-existent. It should be noted,
we came in second place in that contest.
What is
unspoken in this is that we have to be inventive in inveigling prospects to
sign up. The so-called “War On Terror” is at stake. If finding
sufficient warm bodies to volunteer becomes impossible, conscription would be
the alternative.
The WOT ends
the day the Donald or a successor announces a draft.
Do we arrive
at the point Augustus reached when Varus lost a couple of legions and the
Imperator could not draft replacements even when execution was the penalty for
resistance? Is the WOT so necessary that any warm body, native or foreign
will be eligible fodder?
As it has
been said, this war may
never end, why would we not resurrect another bad policy?
