Bring Back The Draft, ya sissies

[NaMeaHou]

What's all this commotion about bringing back the draft? Why on earth would any young, healthy person not want a draft? Why, when I was younger (and I could beat the crap outta anyone smaller than me, no matter what cousin Etta Mae says) we all used to go out and sit under the big ole tree out back and pray for a little bit of a breeze. We would beg for it. No air conditioners then. Nosiree. We just sat around and sweated. A draft was a good thing by gawd. Of course, now that I'm older, I don't care much for drafts myself, my rheumatism acts up and that old tractor injury flares up when I get too much air blowing on me, but what is wrong with the young folks? Get out there and get some fresh air for gods sake. Where's yer spunk?

I wanna hear from some of the young folks out there who have changed their minds after reading this.

[wtmusic]

1. Draft won't be back soon

because all those Repub trust fund brats will have to find excuses. How inconvenient.

[Aburius]

2. Three cheers for a draft!

I sure as heck hope that was sarcasm. :D

I'm all for a good breeze every now and then, but not if it's caused by bullets whizzing by (or through) my head.

[OneBlueSky]

3. funny . . . I feel a strange draft every time . . .

Shrub opens his mouth . . . or Cheney, for that matter . . . or Asscroft . . . or several others I can think of . . . wonder why that is? . . .

[chaumont58]

4. Speaking of fighting

Near the end of Ken Burn's wonderful Civil War series, an actor quotes a person celebrating the end of the war by saying:

"I want to fight a small man and win!"

[everythingsxen]

5. Though you jest...

a draft would be good.

That way more and more people are shipped off to the perpetual war front. More people will wake up and say "What the hell are we doing?"; thats just my 2 cents.

[NaMeaHou]

6. mmmmm, too much risk

of thousands getting killed or wounded in the process. The people seem to support this perpetual war no matter the cost in lives or money. Blood lust is difficult to quell once initiated.

[everythingsxen]

8. Ah but..

it may cool their bloodlust if they know *they* might get shipped out.

Especially if the draft is open to a broad range of ages.

[PVnRT]

10. Even if they have bloodlust

They don't deserve to die to further your political cause. I find that sickening.

[mikehiggins]

7. Anti-libertarian, but good for personal growth

There is a lot to be said pro and con the draft. Certainly, it offends the libertarian in me, but I also clearly saw how much it benefitted a lot of young men to get away from home, and mom, and be forced out into the wild (even if it was the US Army version of the wild). My main serious objection to the draft was that it enabled the US to wage wars such as VietNam, which was, ironically, one of the reasons Nixon opposed it in favor of a volunteer army.

As social engineering it worked pretty well. Guys didn't come out of the Army with the same sort of mad-dog patriotism as did guys coming back from the Marines or the like, but those services were always volunteer only (except during the darkest days of VietNam when Marines were getting killed and wounded at levels only approached by Army 2nd Liutenants). You spent two years away from home, supposedly learning to be a man, and I really didn't see much harm to it from that point of view.

I was rejected for service because of poor eyesight (I actually felt bad about that. I wanted to be with my buddies out there fighting godless communism. Then the body bags started coming back and I began to realise what was actually going on in another war based on out-and-out lies, like this one).

So, if there wasn't a war going on, I'd probably be in favor of a draft again, if only to get Americans broken out of their cocoons and forced to go overseas to see what the rest of the world is all about.

It isn't an accident that most of the "war leaders" in this country never served in the military. Carrying a gun and wearing a uniform in a land where every hand is turned against you is the kind of educational experience you don't get in Yale. It kind of colors the way you see things from then on.

[jus_the_facts]

9. yeah colorful view of the world thru the eyes of the insane.....

....after having to fight and kill against you will...just because you wanted to do it but never did actually HAVE to...and FORCING others who don't want to is wrong no matter how YOU want to see it....and since you didn't experience it personally...exactly as you said neither did any of the 'war leaders' these comments here are as assinine as a draft would be :evilfrown:

[PVnRT]

11. Jesus Christ

You act like being drafted is a fun study abroad trip. It ain't. It's about being forced into servitude for your government, to have your life taken defending a cause you may not agree with.

Why are there so many at this website so willing to tell everyone younger than them exactly what they are going to do with their lives?

[populistmom]

12. Do you have sons?

I hope you're not exactly serious here anyway. All I know is that in another ten years, I'll have an 18 year old son. I'll be damned if I'll sacrifice his body and spirit for the profits of Haliburten and the Carlisle Group. I'll get the Hell out of Dodge first.

[mikehiggins]

18. Hey, mom?

Let me reply to you, okay?

Yes, I have a son. No, if the Army was using draftees to do what is being done now I'd buy him a ticket to Canada myself.

What I was talking about, and I thought I was pretty specific in what I was saying, was that during the period of time I was discussing, as in before Viet Nam, lots and lots of friends of mine were drafted and very few of them suffered for it.

It was a different time, almost another galaxy far far away, and the worst that was likely to happen was you might freeze your toes looking across the DMZ at the North Koreans. More often you'd spend your time in the US or in Europe, and after two years you'd come home an ex-virgin with a whole new bunch of bad habits, get a job, get married, raise kids and worry about the mortgage.

Very few of the people I knew had any real complaints about the time they spent in uniform, and quite a lot considered it their duty as an American. Then came VietNam and LBJ and things went to hell in a handbasket in a hurry.

So, that's what I'm talking about. I would not support a return to the draft in this era of pre-emption, and American empire. During the 50's and early 60's, however, the mission of the Army was entirely different, and mostly concerned with preventing the Soviets and Chinese communists from expanding their boundaries.

It was a different time, a different America and a different draft.

End of story

[Ellen Forradalom]

21. A draft requires a contract between draftor and draftee.

The draftee gives X amount of time to his or her country, and the draftor sends the draftee in harm's way only with proper support and for a just cause. Vietnam shattered this; there is not longer the trust in our leadership that the draft requires to be an accepted part of our social order.

[Angelus]

13. hell no there should be no draft...

just because i was born here doesn't mean i have to die for this country, even though i respect those who were/are in the military greatly. i go to college, i'm away from home, and i don't think i should be forced to go gallyvanting with a gun and killing fellow man when it's just a tiff between two world leaders. I want to live my life, not have it end in some desert country over black gold and $.

[Guaranteed]

14. Politically, the draft is exactly what we need,

and exactly what the Republicans dread. It's no coincidence that all the Republicans are at least trying to give the impression that the country is nowhere near a draft, and all the Democrats are saying we're headed right for it.

[Angelus]

15. we don't need the draft...

it's making the democrats look bad if they pursue reinstating the draft. The democrats need to appeal to the "soccer moms" who voted for dubya, and they would re-elect him again if they found out dems wanted to bring back the draft. They surely wouldn't want their kids fighting in a war. why should we? i for one am against the draft in any way, shape, or form.

[Guaranteed]

16. It may make us look bad in pursuing the draft, however

the draft is exactly what the country needs to stop the warmongering. Once the draft was reinstated, there would be no more wars started.

We're going to have one anyway if Bush gets re-elected.

[Angelus]

17. you bring up a good point....

however, all they need to do to stop the warmongering is to show footage of what actually goes on in the battlefields, such as the killing, the body parts flying, etc. bringing back the draft wouldn't and shouldn't be the first thing to use to stop the warmongering.

who knows. :shrug:

[ProudGerman]

19. a modified draft

The Army goes over records where people put their names in support of wars, and puts a rifle in their hands and boots on their feet. If they are too old, take a son or nephew.

Pro war rallies would be great places for recruitment. Heck, they are already kinda marching. Just snatch them up and ship them off. The Army wouldn't even need to send them to boot camp, these arm chair "warrors" claim to be able to kick so much ass.....

[Ellen Forradalom]

20. Draftsmanship, then and now

Then:

Now:


I agree, bring back the draft.