Liberals Have Nothing
to Offer But Lies and Fear
by Mychal Massie
Liberals have begun accusing
President Bush of having a secret plan to call up more National
Guard and Reserve forces after the election, and they are planting
the idea that it is a precursor to a renewed draft.
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col.
Chris Rodney refutes the initial claim, explaining, "There
is no force increase that is expected." Quite simply, the
Army is rotating the same number of soldiers into Iraq that will
be leaving over the next six months. Additionally, the units
expected to be mobilized for this rotation already have been
notified.
A spokesman for the President
called this a "conspiracy theory" that is "completely
irresponsible." I see it as a purposeful distortion of
the truth, but not out of character for most liberals these days.
I believe these assertions
are a plan to scare people into thinking they or their loved
ones will be drafted, and marched off to fight and die in Iraq.
It's a misrepresentation of what's going on over there, and
the most brazen attempt yet to politicize our national security
policy.
In Columbia, South Carolina,
the Associated Press reported that the state Democrat Party effort
to sign up new voters mixed images of a military draft notice
with a voter registration form, calling on people to make a choice
between the two. The unambiguous message being: Support the
President and you'll likely see a new draft.
While visiting high school
students in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Democrat National Committee
chairman Terry McAuliffe brazenly politicked about the draft.
According to local resident Martin Cameron: "He speculated
about the draft. He wasn't asked about it. He brought it out,
implanting fear."
There is some truth to draft
rumors, but it's not what you think. Congressman Charles Rangel
(D-NY) and Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) - liberal lawmakers
- are responsible for the legislation to reinstating the draft
that often is mentioned as the "smoking gun." Their
bills were introduced in January of 2003, and saw little movement
until Republican leaders in the House recently brought Rangel's
bill up for a vote to make the liberals put up or shut up. When
faced with having to actually vote for a draft rather than demagogue
over it, Rangel voted against his own bill.
James Jay Carafano, a 25-year
veteran of the armed forces and a senior research fellow in defense
and homeland security at The Heritage Foundation, told me: "Any
official is horrified at the very suggestion" of a renewed
draft. In his article "Draft Reinstatement is a Bad Idea,"
he wrote, "Nearly every expert who studies the [draft vs.
volunteer army] issue concludes that all-volunteer-or professional
militaries perform more efficiently, more bravely and with less
corruption and breakdowns than conscripts."
During our conversation, he
added: "Conscription defies America's own traditions - a
draft military is problematic, because the men and women have
short service tours, then leave. They come with no [military]
skills and the cost of retraining new draftees every two years
further impacts a military that has suffered a decade of inadequate
funding."
But that notwithstanding, liberals
are ratcheting up the rhetoric of suggestive lies and scurrilous
innuendo to scare the public and gain support.
Americans still support the
Bush Administration's strategy in the war on terror and the liberation
of Iraq. So, when all else fails, the liberals seem willing
to resort to scare tactics. The threat of a draft, it is obviously
presumed, will resonate with the MTV/college crowd being brainwashed
by largely insurgent professors teaching their own jaundiced
political positions. It will also resonate among young blacks
who have been inculcated from birth to believe conservatives
such as those in the current White House are evil white men out
to suppress them. And women.
They are returning to the familiar
and well-worn pages of the liberal playbook, under the topic
how to make people afraid and incite hatred by the Satanic use
of lies, half-truths, fear mongering and race-baiting.
###
Mychal S. Massie, a member of the black leadership network Project
21, is an op-ed columnist with WorldNetDaily.com and talk-radio
host on Rightalk.com. Comments may be sent to MychalMassie@aol.com.
Published by The National Center for Public Policy Research.
Reprints permitted provided source is credited. New Visions Commentaries
reflect the views of their author, and not necessarily those
of Project 21.
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