He's the Johnny Appleseed of propaganda, the commander-in-chief of sowing the belief that enlisting in the military will bolster the war on terrorism. As leader of the armed forces, President Bush holds the power to remind potential and current soldiers why the war in Iraq endures and what end it may achieve. But despite the desperate wave of military recruitment resulting from the Iraqi quagmire, honest information about service scarcely escapes the president's lips.
Military commercials aired on television depict the Hollywood version of war. In one advertisement, a voice-over scoffs, \And to think, somewhere some poor guy is buying a minivan."" The appeal to adventure is only surpassed by the appeal to the ""game"" of war-the army proudly disseminates the fact that its online video game ranks among the top five on the web with over five million registered players. However, mortally wounding a virtual terrorist could never compare to the tragedy that somewhere, some poor person lies dead on a battlefield.
Bush plays no direct role in these advertising campaigns, and this silence regarding the misrepresentation of war reflects a lack of integrity. The false image of military life resonates most deeply among those from small towns, rural areas and low-income neighborhoods who have no viable alternatives to joining the armed forces. Enlistment embodies a class issue, and Bush needs to recognize the disproportionate casualty imparted to those who do not hail from his white-collar roots.
On campus, the reality of war affects 564 students who are either veterans, members of the National Guard or participants in ROTC. The university currently permits the presence of army recruiters at job fairs despite the army's policy of sexual orientation discrimination. Since the university does not endorse the policy, it could preclude army recruiters from job fairs via the Solomon Amendment, but choosing to do so would involve forfeiting federal assistance to the university.
As the Supreme Court resumes session under the leadership of John Roberts, the case of Rumsfeld vs. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights Inc. will address whether the government can lawfully suspend funding to an entire university if one school within the university declines to allow military recruiters at job fairs. Here, again, the president implicitly adopts the ""don't ask, don't tell"" stance, continues to pump the ""war on terror"" propaganda and avoids recognizing bigoted discrimination that the Solomon Amendment represents.
In countless speeches since Sept. 11, the president has extolled the campaign against terrorism, but has liberally seeded his speeches with half-truths and silence on the true situation of the military. The president has not recognized the overextension of current forces abroad and the lack of sufficient equipment. Nor has he given potential enlisters a concrete rationale for joining the war on terror besides the ambiguous necessity to wage a global war on ""terror.""
Instead of sprinkling his speeches with barren rhetoric, George W. Appleseed needs to provide the nation with straightforward dialogue about service in the armed forces. Considering Iraq is the most violent country in the Middle East in terms of war casualties and criminal murders, the public deserves to know why America's youth should continue to fight and enlist.
When the October 15 referendum on the Iraqi draft constitution arrives, the president should seize the moment, address the reality of the current military situation and root his speech in honest straight talk.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
