If you ask students today about their views regarding Iraq, they will likely give you a vaguely anti-war response; generally of the sort “I think it was wrong to go there.” Then they will change the subject. Perhaps you may have gotten a pro-war response four years ago but events have since made Swiss cheese of any rationale for the initial strike. The students and public now resignedly think of the war as a somehow necessary evil occurring in a volatile far-off land. Most would rather not think of it at all.

They can afford to do so because of the minimal effect the Iraq war has had on the general populace. Except for an ever-rising gasoline price, business appears to be conducting as usual. Largely due to the budget surplus President Clinton left behind, Bush has been able to execute the war in Iraq without a subsequent increase in taxes. As such, the everyday American did not feel the pinch of the war in his wallet until very recently.

There are currently 168,000 troops deployed in Iraq and thousands of families anxiously awaiting the return of their loved ones. For the rest of the American population, however, the impact of the Iraq war is limited only to the unpleasant issues they have to see discussed on the news. When asked what sacrifices the general public has had to make, Bush infamously remarked, “(They) sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night.” This sort of public disconnect was absent in the 1960s. Nearly every citizen was connected in some way to a soldier then-currently deployed. Mandatory conscription had made anxious families out of millions, and as the war progressed, fewer were willing to take it.

The absence of a draft is perhaps the most significant difference between the 1960s anti-war movement and the current war. We, in our late teens and early twenties, would have been the first shipped to Iraq had there been a general draft. Those remaining behind would be left with the painful knowledge that it was only a lucky chance that sent another to fight in their place. This consideration weighed heavily on the consciences of those who escaped Vietnam and was the deciding factor that drove many to action. Thanks to Bush’s promise of an all-volunteer Army, however, the students of today have no such guilt. Because our Army is comprised of volunteers, the nonparticipant can easily comfort himself by believing that those in Iraq want to be there. Cherry-picked quotes from soldiers in government press releases are designed to give off precisely this impression. This, combined with our Army’s relatively small size, allows the average citizen to hardly think of the Iraq war if he or she chooses not to.

The government’s determination to keep this war separate from its citizens does not make it any less real, however. Bombs still explode, bullets still penetrate and people still die. We elected the leaders who perpetrated this disaster, and it is our responsibility to make our displeasure at their decisions known. The 2006 election was a powerful step in that direction, but the bickering stalemate in Congress shows that it was not enough. The longer this war continues, the longer our soldiers die for our leaders’ mistakes. There is a distinctly anti-war atmosphere in the country now, but simply being “against the war” is meaningless without a corresponding action. Even something as little as phoning your congressman can have an appreciable effect. (Incidentally, how many of you know who our district’s representative is?) Waiting until the next election to make your anti-war sentiments known may prove to be too little, too late.

I often wonder how future historians will view our generation. It is likely that they will remember our age as one of political indifference, sharply contrasting the radicalism of the 1960s. Perhaps they will write books about the fledgling protest movements occurring today and how they were never able to gain momentum with the apathetic public. More than anything else, I suspect, this age will be regarded as one of laziness, of a people swallowing overseas atrocities so long as their government keeps their taxes low. As the war exerts more of a burden on our treasury, its economic effects will be harder and harder to mask. If this happens before Bush’s term expires, we may yet see a more fervent anti-war movement occur. But will it be for Iraqi blood or American gold?

Pavan Vangipuram is a State News columnist and a chemical engineering junior. Reach him at vangipu1@msu.edu.