Louise Slaughter: “Mr. Speaker, the war in Iraq has taken us into uncharted territory as a Nation and as a society. During the Vietnam war…”

“Mr. Speaker, the war in Iraq has taken us into uncharted territory as a Nation and as a society. During the Vietnam war, 4 percent of the general population served in the military. During World War II, fully 12 percent of our people served. Forms of personal sacrifice and national service were to be found everywhere, planted in victory gardens or held in war bonds. Even during the Civil War, a conflict from a different age, more than one in ten Americans fought. Never in our history has America fought a war of this magnitude, or one that is this difficult, with an entirely voluntary military force composed of only 1 percent of the general population. And while so much of what is going on in Iraq hearkens back to past conflicts, what is occurring within our society does not.”