Bush's 9/11 rallying cry

by David Grand
July 7, 2005

Not all of our past wars had one. But those that did reverberated throughout the nation, and helped arouse the patriotic spirit of the American people.  Those  etched forever in the American psyche are: "Remember the Alamo," that ignited the Mexican War (1846-1848 ); "Remember the Battleship Maine," that kicked-off the Spanish-American War of 1898; and "Remember Pearl Harbor," that triggered WW 11.

To his credit, Bush did his damndest to reverse the public's waning support for the war in Iraq, by reminding us no less than five times in his 28-minute speech of the terrorist attack on 9/11 (as if we needed our memory jogged about that fateful day); arguing that it was the cause celebre for the war; and that the two are as inextricably bound together as the Siamese twins, Chang and Eng.

Now, I don't honestly how successful he was, or wasn't, in selling that bill of goods to the American people. But from what I've seen in the polls taken afterwards, not many Americans were buying it.

I did give him an attaboy for p----g on Cheney's parade, who'd stated the insurgency was in its "death throes." And I also gave him kudos, for saying that our abrupt withdrawal would only embolden the insurgents to intensify their efforts to bring down the interim Iraqi government and create a civil war. And while he didn't zing Donald "I'm never wrong" Rumsfeld's for having said that defeating the insurgents could take as long as 12 years, he only indicated that we still have a long row to hoe.

When I first heard Rummy's forecast, my first thought was, that if it drags on for a decade or more, four of my teenage grandsons would be faced with the prospect of following in the footsteps of their uncle (my son Mark) in going to that hell hole.

But my worries may be needless, if it turns out that Iraq Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari is proved right in saying, as he did the day before Bush spoke, that "two years would be more than enough time to establish security in his country." Hope the goat milk he may have been drinking at the time wasn't laced with hallucinating drugs.

And sincere as Bush was, in appealing to parents, teachers and coaches to encourage young men and women to join the Armed Forces, I'm afraid it struck a discordant note in millions of households, with many sighing as if a mountain had been laid on their chests, or reaching for the remote control.

Now, there's no question but that there's a critical need for beefing up our military, particularly the Army, who falling far short of meeting its recruitment goals this year. As retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey said: "the Army and Marine Corps were in danger of 'unraveling," and don't have enough troops to remain at the current  levels in Iraq beyond next fall;" and adding, "if field commanders asked the president to send more troops, there'd be only one or two regiments ready to go." 

Notwithstanding the fact that the Army is now accepting more recruits who score poorly on the military aptitude test, and that Congress has raised the enlistment bonus from $20,000 to $30,000. (I imagine that a lot of young men feel no amount of money is worth risking life or limb for.) 

But what if its called upon to fight another war elsewhere? For to have enough boots on the ground, the administration would, however grudgingly, have no choice other than to reinstate the draft. What other options are there? Hire mercenaries? Redeploy our troops stationed around the world? Activate college ROTC units? Not likely.

And  that might happen sooner than later, what with the election of that saber-rattling, new president in Iran, who's showing  no interest in reducing their nuclear goals, or seeking rapprochement with the United States. Plus, there's no telling when that wacko Kim Jong of North Korea may provoke a war.

While I, along with all Americans, dred the prospect of our troops having to shed more blood in yet another foreign land, if that were to become necessary, I'd hope that everyone would give them their full support, and not by just by putting stickers on their cars, but by facing up to the real possibility that their loved ones may be drafted, much as they've been in our previous wars. It'd be a test of one's true patriotism that we can ill-afford to fail.