Sunday was first anti-war rally in 50 years.

 RALLY WAS TITLED,"RAGE AGAINST THE WAR MACHINE"

BROAD RANGE OF SPEAKERS AND PARTICIPANTS

Sunday's Washington protest was the first anti-war rally since 1973. I would expect that one reason that there has been little vocal opposition to over 30 years of continuous war is that at present there is no real draft. Much of the impetus for the opposition to the war in Viet-Nam was that most of the casualties were everyday Americans who were compelled to go fight and possibly die.

With the removal of the draft and the ability to man the military by a volunteer army, supplemented by paid mercenaries, it has been possible to this time to engage in war on a continuous basis without inconveniencing the majority of the population. It seems that that era of inconvenience may be coming to an end. While this rally, attended by possibly 10,000 at the most, was small in attendance it will most likely not be the last, not just here but in western Europe. The first protest in the UK is scheduled for this coming weekend. The speakers Sunday were a broad range, from pacifists to Ron Paul to Tulsi Gabbard. It was not made up any particular political bent.

There has been protests in other parts of Europe, a 500,000 signature campaign in Germany and many other stirrings of an anti-war movement. With the debate in Germany, about restarting a draft, it will now become a far bigger movement. Europe is now being inconvenienced by this present war, it has been up to now an economic disaster that will only become a greater factor in the year ahead.

Germany contends that its enrollment in the military is down 25% below its planned numbers. It is also down in those desiring to join the police and other government service. It seems to mirror the same situation developing in the United States. 30 years of continual war and now a woke view of who should be in the military is causing serious recruiting problems. The reserve system in the United States has been seriously abused, by calling up reservists to use for political conflicts around the world. It has devastated many families with divorce and economic ruin, with little notice by most Americans. Recruitment in the U.S. and reserve numbers are way below needed numbers and will likely accelerate.

At present, we can expect that the politicians of both parties are not ready to change course, will continue to double down on foreign war adventures and claim a draft is now needed to protect democracy around the world. If that indeed become the case, we can expect a far different view of war by the civilian population.