^ You don't need to aplogize for posting in Vintage, Alex. We have lots of preVints here.

 

Poindexter

I think you have plenty to be concerned about. As the war in Iraq drags on and on, and as our commitments in other places such as Afganistan continue, I think you will see an ever increasing need for people to serve in the military. At the same time, if the economy continues to improve, and jobs become available, there will be many alternatives available, other than the military, for young people. As more deaths are recorded in Iraq, the military becomes a less desirable alternative. All that said, I think the draft becomes necessary in order to provide the number of people necessary. The incentives that the military and the president is talking about will not stimulate enlistment in times of war.

As far as it being political suicide, I'm not so sure. I think that there are enough people out there who believe that young people have an obligation to the nation, and that service in the military should be mandatory. I think a big part of the population would applaud this.

For the record, I am against the draft, the war in Iraq and the president's policies in general. But, I do think there will be a draft in the near future.

 

Well, I have read a few of the comments over in the poll on this subject and read thru this thread. Having lived thru this in the Vietnam era, (I suspect that alot of you vintagers were drafted/draftable during the 60's and 70's as well), you all know how this works.
You can't draft without a real war. If you don't have a real war, get one started. In Vietnam, it was the Tonken Gulf Incident. We were already in Nam, but we needed more troops, more military might, more guns. How do you get a nation of peace loving people to go to war, to allow a draft of their son and daughters, to accept the death of thousands of people. You get your self into a position to be attacked. When that attack happens, the draft will happen.

So, to answer your concern, don't worry until you see the "breaking news". My guess is that the "attack" will be from Syria or Iran, but I wouldn't rule out North Korea. After all, we still have some of those godless commies to convert. When that happens, we'll all line up behind our government/troops and support he hell out of them. (That lesson also came out of the Vietnam war) But for me, I will always wonder if it is really so necessary.

 

I'll grant you that GW is probably the least intelligent and most inarticulate president that we've had in decades. I believe that his limitations are the reason why he's also given the fewest press conferences of any president in decades. That implies to me that he at least he has good handlers. So, I doubt that a draft would be suddenly announced without some signals from the administration first. The Repulican Party is already getting its ducks in a row for 2008, and Bush will be under some pressure not to burn any bridges.

Dean

 

A classic case of females wanting their cake and eating it too?

 

Actually, the US continued the draft during the 50's when there was only the "Cold War." Remember that Elvis Presley was conscripted and served 2 years while there was no war going on.

I believe that the issue of drafting women will preclude any administration from instituting the draft. We've become a society where women can serve in combat roles if they choose (story about a woman MP operating the machine gun in a firefight in Iraq in this week's Newsweek); nobody could argue that young men should have to serve in combat whether they want to or not but young women should be allowed to choose whether or not that duty is "convenient" (in my best Dana Carvey "church lady" voice).

I also think that our society will demand greater fairness in any future draft. People like me (and a few of the prominent Bushies) would not be allowed our "student deferments" (actually, these ended before the end of the first draft) and there's no way that this nation will let the children of the middle class be treated the way poor kids were back then.

 

insightful. thx for posting.

 

Actually, that is not exactly right. The draft was signed into law in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt before America was at war, and before America was attacked. Men were drafted into the armed services from 1941 until 1944 and the from 1948 until 1973 in times of conflict and times of peace. The following is from the Selective Service web page:

Background of Selective Service
For more than 50 years, Selective Service and the registration requirement for America's young men have served as a backup system to provide manpower to the U.S. Armed Forces.

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 which created the country's first peacetime draft and formally established the Selective Service System as an independent Federal agency.

From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means.

In 1973, the draft ended and the U.S. converted to an All-Volunteer military.

The registration requirement was suspended in April 1975. It was resumed again in 1980 by President Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Registration continues today as a hedge against underestimating the number of servicemen needed in a future crisis.

The obligation of a man to register is imposed by the Military Selective Service Act. The Act establishes and governs the operations of the Selective Service System.



If the draft does return, and I hope it doesn't, I'd like to think that you are right, but I'm afraid that you might be wrong. I find it hard to believe that children of the upper middle and upper classes won't be able to obtain deferments. I don't think it will be any more fair now than it was before.

 

Stop loss is having a direct effect on my family, only son joined the army in May of 01 for a four year enlistment. Spent first year stateside, second and part of third in Germany, balance of third in Iraq, fourth stateside to date, and will be deployed back to Iraq next month thru January of 06, add that up.

 

I'll just repost what I posted in the other thread...

As much as I dislike the foreign policy of the current administration I would have to say that there is barely a snowball's chance in hell that a draft will be reinstituted for the Iraq war.

I say this not because we don't need the troops (we do...we are dangerously overstretched and effective recruiting in the Army and Marines is not really happening), but because there is simply no support for that at home. As much as many people might support our incursion into Iraq, I don't think there are more than a small number of people (percentagewise) in the United States that would support a draft at this time.