Small Minority Says Draft Could Happen (Washington Post)

[diamond14]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A440-2004Oct26.html

Small Minority Says Draft Could Happen
New Conflict Would Further Strain Troop Levels

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 27, 2004; Page A03

Many military experts believe that reviving some sort of military draft is extremely unlikely, even impossible -- but not all of them.

Army Maj. Donald Vandergriff, author of two influential books on military personnel policy, said that if current strains on the armed forces continue, especially the need to keep 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, he could see the need for a draft.

"If the force is stretched and the same people are always rotating with little breaks in between, they become worn out, tired, start becoming bitter, start making mistakes," he said in an e-mail interview. The Army's recent moves to restructure itself to have more deployable brigades, and to keep soldiers in one unit longer, are steps that promise to lessen that strain, he said.

Even so, Vandergriff said: "We either have to come up with a plan that details how we are going to sustain the long-term effectiveness of our force for a decades-long war that says we can continue to do it with the volunteer force, or have to look at other alternatives like the draft."

[aquart]

1. We must have a draft. Bush has forced it on us.