FRAMESHOP:FRAMESHOP: LIP SERVICE

"What has happened in less than five years of George W. Bush as President that Americans are shying away from service in our military?"

Lately, Americans have been less and less inspired to serve in the armed forces.  And yet, as shocking as our sagging enlistment figures are, they have been quickly knocked off the front pages by Congressional bickering over a speech made by one senator, by the President's half-hearted attempt to sell the country a Social Security plan it does not want, and by yet another anti-Constitutional bill intended to criminalize the burning of the American flag. 

Just as plunging stock prices indicate a loss of faith in a publicly traded corporation, plunging enlistment numbers signal a radical loss of faith in the war policies of a President.  Simply put:  When Americans believe in a war, they are inspired to enlist.  Even if a war is not the official policy of our government, Americans who believe in that war are inspired to serve in it. 

Amidst the noise over issues that mean little, if anything, in comparison to Iraq, nobody seems to be asking this:  Why are Americans no longer inspired to serve in the armed forces?  What has happened in less than five years of George W. Bush as President that Americans are shying away from service in our military?

The answer is disarmingly simple: politicians lie, soldiers don't.

That's the long and short of it.  In the past few months, the truth that soldiers speak upon returning from Iraq has started to outpace the lies that policians tell in their attempts to sell the war to the American people.   And that impact will continue to be felt the longer we keep our soldiers in Iraq.

With each passing day, more and more soldiers return.  With each passing day, Americans who were inspired to serve their country in time of war are returning from the battlefield with stories about the real situation in Iraq.  Despite all that we who have not served are being told by the White House or by the Democrats in Congress--despite all we read in the papers or see on TV or find on the internet--the stories of American soldiers who have actually served on Iraq are now circulating in the very places that once had the highest enlistment numbers in America.

As a result, the war in Iraq is no longer being fought solely on the battlefields of Baghdad or in the desert of Darfur.  The war in Iraq is also being fought at kitchen tables in Texas, during carpool rides in North Carolina, at lunch counters in Louisiana, and at water coolers in Wyoming. 

These everyday locations, familiar to all of us, are now places were Americans are listening to and retelling the stories of their brothers, their children, and their parents who have just returned from Iraq.  In these ordinary places far away from the bright lights and backdrops of party politics, Americans are discussing the stories, emails and letters from soldiers in the field. 

Sure, there are stories of triumph and stories of hope.  But mostly, the stories being told at the kitchen tables and water coolers of America's military communities are stories of pain and uncertainty, stories of inspiration lost and dedication to service gone sour.  They are stories of violence so brazen that even the most courageous among us are forced to pause and stare silently at our feet.  They are stories that are slowly giving rise to the one, powerful force that truly has the potential to stop the war in Iraq: the force of resistance to the war from ordinary, unknown, workaday American citizens.

Occasionally, due to the outstanding work of America's great newspaper journalists, those of us who don't live in military communities are privy to these stories.  The following examples were collected by Charleston Gazette staff reporter Tara Tuckwiller in her interviews with Marine Corporal Dan Wyatt, recently returned to Hurricane, West Virginia after his second tour of duty in Iraq (to read the full article go here):

"People who say it’s getting better...I would like them to enlist, and go see how great it is firsthand.”

This is a common theme in many stories I read from soldiers returning from Iraq.  When Americans hear from a talk show host on Fox or from the President that things are getting better in Iraq, they may listen.  But when Americans talk face-to-face to a person they know who has been in Iraq, and whosays that things are getting worse, they stop listening to the President and start listening to the soldier.

Wyatt's story continues:

"On the first deployment, we had people giving us the thumbs-up, inviting us into their homes for tea and kabobs...On that second deployment, here’s how it was: us in our Humvees with our guns pointed out, and the Iraqi people in the shadows, looking at us."

This point is also a common theme.  Many Americans joined to serve in Iraq because they felt that they would be helping the Iraqis and that the Iraqis would be grateful. That is what the President told them and they were inspired to serve by that message.  At first, it might have been true, but now they feel hated by the very people they enlisted to help.  The very reason they joined, that inspiration to become an American soldier helping Iraqis in need, has gone sour.

And then there are the stories of the dead and wounded:

“On the first deployment, we had two guys killed and 50 injured [out of a battalion and support crew of about 1,200]... And that was the invasion. The second deployment was a month shorter, with 27 killed and 201 injured ... We were down more than a whole company, and not a lot of replacements...That should tell someone — anyone — that it’s not getting better.”

To hear a soldier say that he or she lost 50 out of 1200 friends is so much more painful than hearing that the United States has lost about 2000 soldiers in Iraq.  It is more visceral, more tangible to hear casualty statistics recounted in terms of friendships lost, team members killed, relationships destroyed.  And that is the type of statistics being discussed at kitchen tables and water coolers in America, today. 

And then there are the stories of brutality:

“Some of the locals ran a chicken shack [for the Marines]...One day they went to Baghdad to get supplies ... We found their body parts strung across the road.”

Or the stories of fear:

“They would use anything to set off a roadside bomb...Garage door openers, cell phones, remote-controlled toys...They would get dead animals and gut them, and stuff a bomb up into the chest cavity. They did that with dogs and camels ... They would hide bombs in piles of trash along the road. There was so much trash in that place, you could never look at every piece.”

And these are just the stories of one soldier, told to one reporter, on one afternoon in one town called Hurricane, West Virginia. 

Why do these stories resonate with us?  Why have these stories given rise to resistance to serve in the armed forces amongst otherwise selfless and dedicated Americans?  Because they are stories told by Americans that we all admire:  those who were inspired to enlist in the army and who served on the frontlines during war.

Soldiers returning from Iraq are telling the truth about the situation to people in their communities, and as a result, those parts of America most dedicated to serving in the armed forces are now becoming centers of resistance to White House foreign policy and the massive PR campaign managed by the President's top advisor, Karl Rove.

Americans may never agree on when war should begin or end, on why or how war should be fought, nor even on the definition of war itself.  But when those among us are inspired to join the armed forces, when they train to defend our nation, and when they serve during wartime--the rest of us respect and admire them greatly.  On this much we can all agree.

Beyond the death, beyond the destruction, beyond the monumental financial debt, the White House Iraq policy has opened another, terrible wound.  Americans who view enlisting in the military as the most important act of serving our country have become disillusioned.  And a nation dissuaded from service by the policies of its President, is a nation on the verge of a deep, deep crisis.

As for the war in Iraq, it would seem that the longer the President keeps American troops over there, the more soldiers will be disillusioned, and the more they will come home and talk truth to their communities.  As a result, the longer the President stays in Iraq, the more his policies will be undermined by the very people he needs to enforce them:  courageous Americans dedicated to serving their country. 

The solution to this PR problem for the President is obvious  If he wants to win the PR war in Iraq, he should bring our soldiers home as soon as possible.