Give us a Million
Men and Women
and We’ll Change the World

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War is expensive...

In addition to the human cost, the loss of life (in battle and post-conflict suicide), maiming, traumatic brain injury, as well as the increased rates of mental illness, divorce and homelessness in veterans, there are other, subtler, but broader side effects as well. The cost of the Iraq War may approach 2 trillion dollars in the long run (about the amount of money we were missing to resuscitate our economy in 2008).  The easy money made available to cushion the American public from sacrifice in both Iraq and Vietnam contributed to the economic bubble of this past decade as well as the stagflation we experienced in the 70’s after Vietnam.



Veteran vs. Non-Veteran Suicide Rates



Perhaps even worse, our current law and the current structure of our military, are morally degrading to and leave a taint on every American, from the President to the lowliest private, to every American citizen, everywhere on the political spectrum.

Americans recoil from and distrust the military because we don’t trust the President to use it wisely and truthfully. In fact, most modern American Presidents don’t have the
stature and haven’t earned the right to be Commander-in-Chief because they don’t serve themselves. That’s morally degrading
to every American citizen, civilian or military, from the President on down. What right does a President have to order the military to fight and die when he hasn’t served himself?

What citizen in their right mind, would place a blind trust in the President (which the current law forces us to do), and volunteer for the military, after seeing how badly it’s been misused in both Iraq, Vietnam, and to a lesser extent, Afghanistan (in other words, in every major conflict of our time)?

You cannot morally favor any war, without being willing to serve yourself.  That is the essence of a chicken hawk.  We’re willing to give those who do the benefit of the doubt, because the current system makes it difficult to put your money where your mouth is.  Once we change the law though, that disease will be eradicated from this country as well. 

As for those who oppose war under any circumstances, we’re willing to concede that might be the right view 99.9% of the time (and there is room and a role for  100% pacifists in our movement).  In those rare instances when it is not, that’s what we’re preparing for, to make sure these once in a generation instances do not wreck the country and wound us as badly as the last three major wars of our time.