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People increasingly disconnected with War on Terror

FLC students present case for re-engaging in the conversation
Fort Lewis College students, from left, Kade McDougall, Andrew Hopkins and Nick Brandau, spent a semester researching America’s – and Durango’s – disconnect from the Global War on Terror. They presented their findings at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 on Friday evening. “This was another opportunity to educate the community about how amazing FLC students are and show how they want to make the world a better place,” their professor, Michelle Bonnano, said.

When was the last time you had a conversation about the war in Afghanistan? Or studied or discussed the complex issues in the Middle East that have led both to the Arab Spring and the rise of the Islamic State group?

That’s something three Fort Lewis College students asked for their Action Research class project – just how connected and informed are we about the Global War on Terror? And if we’re disconnected, as they found, what would it take to get the country – and Durango – engaged when we’re a nation at war?

They presented their findings Friday night at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 to about 40 people who included classmates, veterans and interested community members, as well as their instructor, Michelle Bonnano, who was grading their presentation.

One of the students, Nick Brandau, is a Marine veteran who served 2003-2013 and was awarded the Bronze Star.

“When I started at Fort Lewis, I expected to find every class analyzing the political and social consequences of the war, but no one was talking about it at all,” he said. “This is the longest period of conflict and second most expensive war in our history. As an institution of higher learning, they’re educating future leaders who should be thinking about this.”

He and his fellow researchers, Andrew Hopkins and Kade McDougall, conducted a semester of research, which included a statistical review comparing World War II, the Vietnam War and the War on Terror, focus groups, a survey of residents and interviews with veterans at FLC, a Vietnam War veteran, a Vietnam War-era civilian and an Army recruiter.

“Part of the reason for the disconnect is the lack of communication,” McDougall said. “There’s a big difference between those who have fought and those who have not. People say ‘Thank you for your service,’ and it ends there.”

What is notable, Brandau said, is that the War on Terror has been fought by an all-volunteer force, making it remote to many people. In World War II, for example, there was a draft that selected from the population as a whole, with 62 percent of the 17.8 million who served being drafted. Conscription was abolished in 1970 after President Richard Nixon proposed it as a solution to the social unrest rocking the nation during the Vietnam War.

The Gates Commission that recommended abolishing the draft did point out some societal problems that might occur as a result, Brandau said.

“They listed several points,” he said, “including a military isolated from society, which could become a threat to civilian control; the armed forces being staffed disproportionately by minorities and people from lower-income backgrounds; a reduction of concern about the nation’s foreign-policy issues; and a nation willing to advance policies that can be defined as ‘military adventurism.’”

Hopkins said their admittedly low sampling survey of 50 found evidence of the sense of separation and lack of concern about foreign-policy issues is true in Durango, too.

“In 1968, during the Vietnam War, 74 percent of respondents in survey said they paid ‘a good deal of attention’ to the Vietnam War, and 76 percent said it was one of the top three problems facing the country because you might have to go to war, your son or daughter might have to go to war or you were paying additional income taxes to pay for it, so it was affecting your pocketbook,” he said.

A 2010 survey found that only 29 percent of Americans say they “closely” follow terror plots in the U.S. and Europe, and only about half of Americans say attitudes about foreign-policy issues affect how they vote.

Durango residents showed even lower levels of interest in the students’ survey.

One reason the Global War on Terror has gone on so long – 14 years – is that most Americans don’t have a vested interest in ending it, they said.

“For most of America’s wars, there was a line on people’s pay stubs for a tax to pay for the war,” Brandau said. “During this war, (President) Bush lowered taxes, both income tax and capital gains. We’ve been spending money we don’t have, borrowed money, so we’ll be paying for this war for the next 20 years.”

The talk was not only an analysis of the current war; the students also included some recommendations, including the need for a serious conversation about requiring young people to spend one or two years in national service, whether it’s the military – which doesn’t necessarily mean carrying a gun – or working with a nonprofit such as Habitat for Humanity or Southwest Conservation Corps.

“We have big ideas that are hard to implement,” Brandau said. “But it’s important for young people to understand what it means to serve something greater than yourself. They’ll also learn vocational skills and be more experienced and mature when they go to college.”

Making a commitment to doing something for troops at war and those coming home also is important, Brandau said.

“At the very least, I hope you’ll stop in and get a drink at the VFW once in awhile,” he said. “You don’t have to be a member, and while it hasn’t come to that yet, selling the building is a real possibility in the future.”

abutler@durangoherald.com

War analysis report (PDF)

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