[TML] Killer instinct (was Re: Navel Silliness)

[Richard Aiken]

On Sat, Feb 23, 2008 at 11:23 PM, Joseph Paul <josephnjody at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> When conscription is involved as it was in WWII, I disagree. When the
> individual's rights are infringed for the good of the Republic, the Republic
> can have a care about demanding too much blood from any one source. It will
> probably help keep down anti-war sentiment too. And yes I believe
> conscription is a violation of an individuals rights regardless of what
> SCOTUS has ruled.

This isn't exactly related, but in reading "Charlie Wilson's War" I
discovered that not only did the old Soviets deny to the rest of the
world that they were conducting a war in Afghanistan, but they denied
it to their own citizens.  Instead of mothers being hailed as paragons
of virtue for having their sons die for the Motherland, the sons
deaths in "training accidents" yeilded them no special status.  And
the veterans coming home to no fanfare or even acknowledgement got
even more disaffected that US Vietnam vets did.  To make matters
worse, Soviet army units were recruited from particular towns and
regions, returning there in a body when rotated out of Afghanistan.

So, essentially, the policy created two complementary sets of
ready-made revolutionary cells, one composed of grieving mothers and
another of pissed-off young men.  Very bad juju.

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein