Where Exactly is the Tipping Point?

Over 3,430 men and women serving in the United States military have died in Iraq since the war began 4 years ago

More than 25,000 have been wounded, many of them surviving - and living with the horrific consequences of - injuries that in previous wars would have simply killed them

About 1 in 5 soldiers in Iraq are suffering from post-traumatic stress, anxiety, or depression

(Source: "Troops, families know too well the sacrifice you don't see," USA Today, Friday, May 25, 2007)

April 27, 2007 – Jon Stewart Interview with Bill Moyers on PBS

JON STEWART: You know, one of the things that I do think government counts on is that people are busy. And it's very difficult to mobilize a busy and relatively affluent country, unless it's over really crucial-- you know, foundational issues. That come sort of sort of a tipping point.

BILL MOYERS: War? War?

JON STEWART: But war that hasn't affected us here, in the way that you would imagine a five-year war would affect a country. I think that's why they're so really — here's the disconnect. It's sort of this odd and I've always had this problem with the rationality of it. That the President says, "We are in the fight for a way of life. This is the greatest battle of our generation, and of the generations to come. "And, so what I'm going to do is you know, Iraq has to be won, or our way of life ends, and our children and our children's children all suffer. So, what I'm gonna do is send 10,000 more troops to Baghdad."

So, there's a disconnect there between — you're telling me this is fight of our generation, and you're going to increase troops by 10 percent. And that's gonna do it. I'm sure what he would like to do is send 400,000 more troops there, but he can't, because he doesn't have them. And the way to get that would be to institute a draft. And the minute you do that, suddenly the country's not so damn busy anymore. And then they really fight back, and then the whole thing falls apart. So, they have a really delicate balance to walk between keeping us relatively fearful, but not so fearful that we stop what we're doing and really examine how it is that they've been waging this.

Watch the whole interview at http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04272007/watch.html.

Comments

[Chris Duckworth]

Very nice to find your blog. I've met you several times in the past, in my former incarnation as an AFP sales rep in the Northeast . . .

As for a tipping point . . . I think that Stewart is spot-on. We are not a nation at war, despite the rhetoric of the political class. Ours is a military at war, for sure, but not a nation at war. Where are the broad-based sacrifices, war bonds, belt-tightening, increased taxes, mobilizing of volunteers?

I'm flying my flag this weekend, in honor of all those who served and died. What I admire most about military personnel is that they willingly give up much their own freedom to do what our nation's leaders ask them to do. Unlike the horrible response our nation had to Vietnam, the problem with this war is not with the soldiers, but with the leaders.