About warriors

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It may seem strange and out of place to write about war on this day. But the reality is that much of the current news is about war and warriors. And there is a connection for me between Franklin D. Roosevelt, president during World War II, and Thanksgiving. For more, see my post on my other blog, "My man - FDR."

We can be thankful that current leaders are talking about how to change the war in Iraq. Several Iraq war veterans ran for office in the recent election. Democrats won a new majorities in Congress based an assumption of change by the voters. OCP (our current president), is clearly not a warrior, but he quickly replaced one of his main war makers with a man who appears to have the capacity to change course.
One old warrior replaced by another - Slate Magazine's Fred Kaplan skillfully explores the (Bush II) appointment of (Bush I) man, Robert Gates to replace fired Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Kaplan writes:

It's not quite clear what George W. Bush wants Robert Gates to do. But it's doubtful Gates would have come back to Washington, from his pleasant perch as president of Texas A&M, if the job description read "staying the course on Iraq."
Just what steps he'll take on Iraq will become clearer when James Baker's commission releases its recommendations. Since Gates was an active member of the panel, it is widely assumed that the report will become the new policy.

Not warrior and not going much of anywhere - The International Herald Tribune's David Sanger wrote an insightful article about our current president's trip to the Far East. It was headlined, "News Analysis: Bush agenda shows 'superpower fatigue." Sanger concluded,

The backroom diplomacy of this trip was centered on joining forces with China and others to lure or compel the North Koreans to make a symbolic step toward disarmament, probably by dismantling key elements of its nuclear program. But the North Koreans know that Bush's military is stretched to the limit on the other side of the world, and that unlike three years ago, there is little reason to fear that Washington's demands may be backed up by force.

Good news, this warrior's proposal is going nowhere - Representative Charles Rangel probably had good intentions when he proposed reinstating the military draft. But the Democratic Congressional leadership announced firmly that the idea will not go anywhere, according to this WaPo article by Charles Babbington and Josh White. A quote begins,

Key Democrats, including the incoming House speaker, House majority leader and chairmen of the House and Senate armed services committees, said they do not support a resumption of the draft. They predicted that the idea will gather little momentum in the 110th Congress, which convenes in January. Pentagon officials also restated their opposition to a draft.
Their comments came a day after Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who will chair the Ways and Means Committee, said he would again introduce a bill calling for a return to the draft, which has been suspended since 1973.
. . . To address the manpower concerns, [Armed Services Committee Chair-to-be] Skelton said, "we must slowly disengage ourselves from Iraq" and focus on fully equipping all units before they go into combat. "The recruiting is coming along better," he said. "The retention, with the exception of captains and junior majors, is going well. . . . The bigger problem is readiness," which he said is mainly a matter of equipment.

Real warrior going somewhere good - The Washington Post reports that Illinois Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth, a brave warrier wounded in Iraq, was appointed to head her state's Department of Veteran's Affairs. To quote,

Leading the agency is a logical next step after a losing bid to replace retiring Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), said Duckworth, a Democrat and former Army helicopter pilot who lost her legs after a rocket-propelled grenade attack north of Baghdad.
"As a soldier I fought for my country, and now I thank Governor Blagojevich for giving me the opportunity to fight for my fellow Illinois veterans," she said in a statement.

Going back and forth about wars and warriors - Reference from Slate Magazine's the book club: New books dissected over e-mail. Max Boot's War Made New. This is very enlightening series of 4 e-mail exchanges between Phillip Carter and Laura Miller regarding Max Boot's book:

Phillip Carter, an attorney and former Army officer, writes on legal and military affairs. He recently returned from a year advising the Iraqi police in Baqubah with the Army's 101st Airborne Division. Laura Miller is a military sociologist at the RAND Corp., a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution. She is also a member of the Army Science Board, an independent federal advisory committee that advises the Army on scientific and technological matters.

It would be good if there were better leaders and fewer warriors. Today's post, "About warriors," focused on analyses and a few news stories about the fight. Researching it reminded me that the presence of women as thinkers, leaders, strategists and fighters makes it better. Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi is not afraid of a fight. She and other women in Congress will bring new ideas and sensibilites as they help lead the nation towards a better balance between warriors and peacemakers. For that I am thankful.
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My “dreams and dreaming” post today at Good Second Mondays is about discussing dreams with others.