NP: Tool, 10,000 Days

In his press conference yesterday, the president said the war in Iraq would require "difficult choices and additional sacrifices" and that the war on terror was "the calling of our generation." And yet, I can't reconcile this notion of how important the White House makes this global conflict out to be with how little actual sacrifice has been asked of the American people.

If this is so critical to freedom and democracy everywhere, and we need to build up the military, shouldn't the president take advantage of the bully pulpit -- heck, shouldn't he be required to use the bully pulpit -- of the presidency to call upon the youth of America to serve their country? Lowering requirements can't be the only way the military swells its ranks.

This is, I think, the crux of the "stay the course" strategy. If we're truly going to "win" in Iraq -- if indeed that's still possible -- then we clearly need a return to the Powell doctrine of overwhelming force (and clear objectives, but let's ignore that for now, since the White House has), and that needs more people. But President Bush can't ask for that kind of sacrifice with two daughters of precisely the right age.

So he has to keep us in stasis until another president can do it, and when he won't look like such a hypocrite when he calls in favors to keep Jenna and Barbara out of danger.

I saw some oblique reference to going shopping in the roundup of the press conference, but I'd love to see someone (David Gregory? Helen Thomas? Anybody?) ask directly whether or not the President would encourage Americans in their twenties to enlist in light of this monumental struggle "we find ourselves in."