Knight-Ridder reporter Adam Smeltz went to a Young Republicans’ convention and asked some of the more staunchly pro-war why they hadn’t enlisted.

“Frankly, I want to be a politician. I’d like to survive to see that,” said Vivian Lee, 17, a war supporter visiting the convention from Los Angeles.

[...]

“If there was a need presented, I would go,” said Chris Cusmano, a 21-year-old member of the College Republicans organization from Rocky Point, N.Y. But he said he hasn’t really considered volunteering.

[...]

“I’m in college right now, but who knows?” said Matthew Vail, a 25-year-old from Huntsville, Ala., who works with Students for Bush. He said he might consider enlisting after he finishes his degree at the University of North Carolina, but not until then.

“The bug may get me after college,” he said.

It’s fun to watch the most ardent war-supporters squirm on this. Yes, it’s a bit ad hominem. But if the war in Iraq is as vital to our freedom as, say, World War II was — and war supporters often draw that comparison — then why wouldn’t they enlist? Particularly those of prime fighting age. If this is truly a battle to preserve our way of life, their reasons for staying home seem awfully trite, don’t they?

This entry was posted on Monday, June 27th, 2005 at 10:23 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.