Ret. Colonel calls for return of the draft: Austin-American Statesman

[bluestateguy]

He can draft all he wants, I will not serve under this president. My president is named Al Gore. I do not "owe" any service to the state. To the extent that their should be any kind of national service requirement, it should be administered, if it's even done at all, by state and local governments. There is something eerily Stallinist or Maoist about "national service" requirements.


http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/auto/epaper/editions/sunday/editorial_04250c43033d325200bd.html

Our government has predicted that 2.6 million jobs will be created this year. It appears that we will fall far short of that number.

One million jobs can be created by increasing the military by that amount. That would enable us to continue the war on terror and be the world's policeman. Our present strength of active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops is not going to get the job done for an extended period of time.

The abolishment of the draft has had serious consequences with our young people. This has given us generations of adults who willingly accept the gift of freedom without regard for how it is provided. This includes many of the politicians who send our military off to combat problems around the world.

Two years out of one's life is not too much to pay for living in the greatest country in the history of the world. A policy of mandatory service for all Americans might teach the lesson that freedom needs to be paid for.

[acmavm]

1. This guy's jumping the gun a bit, isn't he? I expected this crap after

the election if bush* got back in somehow (not necessarily by a honest election if you get my drift).

I don't think that bringing up the draft right now is going to help much.

[stopbush]

2. Uh...??

"The abolishment of the draft has had serious consequences with our young people. This has given us generations of adults who willingly accept the gift of freedom without regard for how it is provided."

So, let's see: freedom "is provided" strictly via the exercise of military power, not through diplomacy, treaties and other non-violient means?

Fuck you, you old military POS. You're part of the problem, not the solution.

[wildmanj]

3. service

if a draft it must be---then---start drafting TOP DOWN not BOTTOM UP--fastest way to end all thought of fighting:hippie:

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. you ever hear of the emancipation procolamation

forced service is slavery, no matter how you put it, i will not be george bush's slave

[ThomWV]

5. Well, Shoot Me In The Ass and Call Me Stupid

I'm not so sure that the draft is such a bad idea to tell you the truth. I don't have any problem with a well trained force that consists of young men and women from all across the country serving in common, and then having that training to fall back on in the case of a mobilization. Before you yell and holler let me tell you something. I never would have said that before the wars in the Balkans.

I had thought the world had become a generally civilized place where men of good intention might disagree but would work things out. Ethnic cleansing did away with that notion. It showed me that the people of the world are just as barbaric today as they were 500 years ago and that it is prudent for every nation to have a military capable of protecting itself - us included. I think an all volunteer military is a giant mistake, because it is, in my opnion, the citizen soldier that will always be the one to make it impossible for the military to rise up and overthrow the political government. I think a draft strengthens the country politically, and that alone is a good thing.

As a practicle matter I don't know how we could have a draft today though. The problem isn't one of a lack of suitable young persons. The problem is that we have to many of them. I think I read somewhere that ther are currently about 30 million young men alone of draft age. So, tell me, how do you exempt 27 million of them from service and do it in a fair way? That seems to me to be the problem, because even the nastiest of the Hawks don't seem to want to increase the size of the military more than about 3 million souls.

Anyway that's how I see it. I don't think a draft would be a bad thing, I just don't know how it would work out in the real world.

[Postman]

6. there is NO obligation to the state...

people don't "owe" their freedom to the state. What kind of state is worth preserving if one of the conditions of living in that so-called "free-state" is conscription against ones will? That isn't freedom to me.

As Howard Zinn says so eloquequently,

What does one owe the gov't? Granted, the gov't may do useful things for its citizens: help farmers, administer old-age pensions and health benefits, regulate the use of drugs, apprehend criminals, etc. But because the gov't administers these programs (for which the citizens pay taxes, and for which the gov't officials draw salaries), does this mean that you owe the gov't your life?

[MAlibdem]

7. yeah reactionary leftist in action!

There is something eerily Stallinist or Maoist about "national service" requirements.

Or you could recognize that in order for society to be maintained, individual citizens have to take action to preserve and improve it.

[bluestateguy]

8. kick

:kick: