[lbo-talk] We can lose, or we can just lose later

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

> The point is Yoshie, you can either take the approach that the  
> average soldier is no more and no less responsible then the average  
> AMerican for the war and use this as the basis of trying to  
> convince them not to en-list or re-enlist or you can get on a moral  
> high horse, act holier than though and try to convince them not to  
> enlist /re-enlist by making them more responsible for the war than  
> say yourself.  Which strategy do you think would be better?
>
> Travis

Whether the average soldier is more or less responsible than the  
average American for the war (or whether anyone has a moral high  
ground) isn't a point that concerns me.  Those who have argued  
against Boddi are saying that we have no reason to thank US soldiers  
for fighting an illegal and immoral war like the Iraq War.  (It would  
be a different story if the war in question were worth fighting.) The  
question of civilian gratitude for volunteer soldiers is a different  
one than the question of responsibility.  In addition, I'm saying  
that soldiers have more power to change the US foreign policy than  
civilians.  If they quit reenlisting in large numbers, for instance,  
that will motivate the power elite to withdraw from Iraq than any  
civilian protest at home, for the power elite depend on them.  In  
this respect (the relative willingness to enlist or reenlist),  
gratitude or lack thereof may have a small impact on soldiers (fewer  
may enlist or reenlist if they believe that the war is unpopular in  
Iraq and America and therefore fighting it is a thankless job),  
though the largest impact must come from the war itself and their own  
families.

Yoshie Furuhashi
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