Should there be a draft?

Bruce

As Ron Paul has suggested, U.S. government actions over the past decades have fomented hatred of the U.S. and the West. The correct response is to withdraw and stop meddling (i.e. imposing U.S. values onto a resistant culture). War has no winners; only losers. Some lose more than others.

Iraq does not represent a strategic threat to the U.S.
How could Iraq possibly invade, bomb, or otherwise target the U.S. to any significant degree? Granted, the occasional terrorist attack may occur.

However, you can't stop suicide terrorists by 'pacifying' the population, unless you turn the entire country into a gulag.

With respect to a proposed draft, there are some serious practical considerations.

How many more soldiers would be needed to 'pacify the population'?

How much more money will a larger force cost? For how long?

How do you 'pacify' a population (that has been brainwashed to hate the U.S.) without creating even more animosity?

The U.S. government already has trouble funding the war in Iraq.
Popular opinion is not in favor of sending more troops to Iraq. The support for the 'surge' is likely to evaporate in September. [The DOD is already signaling that September may be too soon to judge the effectiveness of the surge strategy.]

Without popular support, there is no feasible way to implement an even larger increase in troop strength. There is not enough popular support or support in Congress.

In my opinion, any attempt to implement a draft will be met with anti-war riots. If you want to galvanize the opponents to the war, implement a draft.

B-

My husband is in Iraq right now, I support the war. I do not think we should have a draft, we need to stay all volunteer, we are still getting volunteers. If we force people to join the quality of their performance goes down. I don't want my husband killed because some idiot who didn't want to join was stuck next to him in the field.
B-

susi

I agree, I agree and I agree....let's see how many "patriotic' libs step up to the plate!

BH6

The military doesn't want a draft. Right now we can pick and choose who joins, and those that join volunteer. Draftees are not motivated to be in the military and there will be a significant decrease in the quality of our troops. Conscription based militaries are usually very poor quality soldiers with limited technical capability or willingness to perform in combat.
This is in no way an indictment of our forces who fought in Vietnam, Korea, or WWII, but there is no arguing that our volunteer force now is much better trained and much better at warfare.

mewikot

What, precisely, is "winning" in Iraq? How can you tell when we have "won"?

Help me understand that, and perhaps I'll have an opinion about whether compulsory military service is merited.

AniMeyhem!

No, we don't need a draft to win. What we need is to tell our soldiers there that the gloves come off and have them kill every last one of them.

That is the only way we can "win" this thing. Will it happen? No, it will not because we are too worried about "world opinion" to do it.

History shows that an invading force must decimate the indigenous population to destroy their will to resist, or offer them something better than what they had. We have done neither.

archkarat

No. As to the people suggesting that we send in the 28% who agree and the draft is there to keep the black man down. Keep trolling the boards looking for responses. If we could send 28% of our pop there we would steam roll the place and as to the other do the research blacks were not the only people shafted by the draft. The world should be grateful the US holds back the military and makes us fight wars with kid gloves they really don't want us to unleash.

Sweetpea

LOL...No we do not need a draft. I love the libs and their call to send the 28% that support the war. Their level of stupid never ceases to amaze me. If the pentagon came out and states that it recomended the draft, then I would consider it. but they haven't and so I won't. The draft would create more problems than it would be worth for this action. When we get a real national emergency, then we can discuss it.

chris b

first, its not a win or lose kind of war. define winning. they are killing each other as they have done for thousands of years over there in the middle east. the next functional government that actually works over there will be one that rules with a iron fist as sadam did, its all they seem to understand. the puppet government we put together over there will never work, far to weak, wants to go on vacation for two months while our troop are getting murdered in the middle of their civil war. (that we started) a draft?? not here, sorry. this country isn't buying that crap anymore. Americans enlisted in the past because we trusted that our government was making solid, honest, good choices for going to war to begin with. no one is willing to die for illegal wars. war is not even a good word for what is going on in iraq, we invaded it on lies and false pretenses. recruitment has drastically dropped because no one wants to die for a lie. now as soon as i post this response, some retard will use 9-11 as the reason for going to war in iraq. HUGE difference between the two, no connection between the two, no wmd's either. even dumb people are getting a clue these days. the gov. betrayed the American peoples trust, that's the problem with enlistment. start a draft here, we will have civil war here too.

Lori K

Apparently, the majority of people DON'T want to win..at least this month. We are certainly a wishy-washy people.

Rhyno

No. First off, what are we trying to win? In a game of Candyland the first one to reach the Kandy Kastle is the winner. In Battleship the first person to guess the location of his opponent's boats is the winner. What is the criteria of winning this war? At first it was to find Osama, then it was to take Saddam out of power, then it was to create a democratic government. We've taken care of most of these already. Technically, we should have won right? I don't even no what the goal is right now, but I'm sure once that gets taken care of, there will be a new reason to stay. Let's just end it. 65,000 iraqis and 3480 U.S. soldiers are dead. Do we really need to start a draft and force people to die against their will?

**destroy the entire population? The world can't do sh!t? Wow Who are we trying to be Napoleon, or Hitler? Iraq: because one Vietnam wasn't enough.

bbj1776

Yes, we need the draft because today's youth have no respect or motivation. It could help to break up gangs, get people off drugs, and make them more responsible for them self. Who many 20's year olds still living with their parents.

Cookies Anyone?

There should be a mandatory 2 yr. stint for all High School grads. Before the indoctrination can take place from our "Institutions of Higher Learning". That way before the Libs minds are turned to mush, they can see things from the other side. I don't say this because of the war. The war could be won very easily. Just take the safeties off....
In the event that Bush takes over the Gov't, at least we'll have a lot of kids that know how to shoot.....

Dreaming Free

Only for the rich and wealthy.

mambohyperspace

get real the DRAFT IN THE US IS ANOTHER WAY TO KEEP THE BLACK MAN DOWN DESPITE WHAT CHARLES RANGEL HAS PUSHED ONTO THE PUBLIC PLATFORM AND THE REST OF THOSE OPPORTUNISTIC CLOWNS IN WASHINGTON ARE FOISTING ON THE MEDIA.

Gordon Soderberg

Depends on if you think you live in a democracy or a dictatorship. In a true democracy every is responsible for what is done in their name. In a dictatorship one person is responsible.

In America today it is unclear if it remains a democracy as Bush has written dictatorship like signing statements and executive orders giving him complete control over all branches of government, industry, and non government organizations.

So to answer you question. No a draft would only make slaves out of the youth and force them to fight and die for Bush and the people that fund his dictatorship.

Once you bring democracy back to America, you should draft everyone into the service of rebuilding New Orleans or Iraq.

orion_1964

I am going to assume that the last part of your question is purely rhetorical. No soldier goes to war not wanting to win.

No, I do not believe there should be a draft. With the all volunteer military we have some form of quality control. Obviously a few "social deviants" make it through the process, but for the most part it works.

I would like to see the Government start some type of program where young people need to perform some type of service (say... 18 months) at some point between the ages of 18 and 25. Join the military, work in a hospital, doctor/dentist office, government office, whatever. It would teach them a bit about life and helping others and create a "Ready Reserve" in times of crisis. Think how differently Hurricane Katrina might have been if the people of N.O. would have been able to start helping themselves instead of huddling in the Superdome waiting for the government to respond. (or any natural disaster for that matter) Some European countries have a program of sorts similar to this.

Chula

Yes, but don't let Bush get away from this draft. Kidnap him if you must so he will not have an excuse like the last time, so he can serve his Country like he was suppose to back then.

steinerrw

the US looses either way. Morons get you head out of the sand and realize this is the coward Bushies Vietnam. He didn't learn a thing from his dad and lied about his service record, lol, anong the LIE which your willing to go DIE for.

Bushacide

Yes....for the children of rich Republicans

No college deferments

yuckufahoo

it is obvious that we need more soldiers to be able to restore stability in Iraq.

and instead of re institute the draft. we need to send the 28% of idiots who still support this debacle. give them a gun and a white t-shirt with a picture of Bush on it w/ "I'm the decider" on the back of the shirt, and dropped them off on the streets of Baghdad. In fact we can send the decider too, so that the people in Iraq can thank him personally for giving them "freedom"

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