I understand this topic does not belong on this website, but I would appreciate your patience with this and any info or feed back you may want to contribute. I myself served two tours in Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Div. and the 23rd Infantry Div. In the process I received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and two Purple hearts.  Consequently I am involved in a number of Veterans Organizations, and we have been posting on other websites we frequent to disseminate some information you may or not be aware of. As many of you know the U.S. military is stretched around the globe in various capacities.  What you may not know, and what is being discussed at the highest levels in Washington, is the reinstatement of a partial or universal military draft. This has not been made public, and I'm sure any call to Representatives or Senators will result in resounding denials. My question is whether you are for or against any form of a military draft. You are not required to be a veteran to respond, we are simply trying to gauge what the general feeling is out there concerning such a proposal, so that we may correlate it and make known these findings to the powers that be. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

(Disclaimer: There are two users of this account that build teams together, etc. This is the opinion of one, not both. The other person has not been consulted at all and this opinion may be the same, similar, or completely different from that person's.)

I'm completely against it. The wars we are in aren't to protect our freedoms so much as others, and while the participation of those that are currently serving is admirable, forcing people to serve will simply cause a return of the feelings surrounding Vietnam. For various reasons, I am not eligible for service anyways (hearing deficiency, among others), but if I were drafted I'd still feel compelled to flee as so many did during that era... it's just never acceptable to force people to fight, imho.

First, my thanks for your many years of service with courage and distinction.  We cannot give too much thanks to our servicemen and women around the world for protecting our liberty and freedoms.  There is no forum where the valor and service of our military is unwelcome or inappropriate.

I was a "lottery baby" (#283) during the Vietnam Era, so I speak as a "civilian."  I am opposed to any form of military draft in what we would consider "peacetime" for lack of a better word.  I realize it doesn't seem like peacetime to those serving in an armed conflict in Afghanistan and an ongoing counterinsurgency in Iraq, and I understand that our military is stretched thin around the world.  But I think a "peacetime" draft --

Dilutes the talent pool of the military with conscripts whose skill sets are often questionable at best

Reduces the motivation of our fighting forces by including a lot of draftees who don't want to be there and

Gives the public too much say over our foreign policy.  When civilians are being drafted, the public demands much greater input in where and how they serve -- Vietnam, as you know, was a classic example.

Unfortunately, the lines are cleaner when there is a world war or some other major hot war that nearly everyone agrees we should be fighting.  Then the logic for mass mobilization and a corresponding draft becomes unassailable.  

Yes, I'm aware that the Napoleonic Armies were built by conscription in a very different time and place -- within a society that had a longstanding legacy of monarchies and other aurthoritarian governments and before the ubiquity and rapaciusness of our "free press".

Just my two cents' worth, and the currency is being devalued every day.  

So how does being, "involved in a number of Veteran's Organizations" give you any kind of insight about what is going on in the highest levels of Washington?

The military has met every recruiting goal for two years and they're going to put in a draft? Under a Democratic President? Give me a break.

Frankly, enacting a draft right now is political suicide for either party.  Not on an individual basis, but on a national party-wide basis.  If a Democratic executive branch is seen as pushing for a draft, Democrats will be swept out of office on all levels everywhere across the nation.  Same thing applies to the Republican party.  If it's seen as a bipartisan initiative, then third-party candidacies suddenly win huge numbers of seats on the local level, greatly increase their voices in congress, and a third-party candidate likely makes the most significant inroads in the presidential voting since the early '90s.  There frankly is not enough political or strategic incentive for a draft right now for me to come close to believing that "high-level officials" would even begin to seriously consider it.  I'm not saying it never gets mentioned in meetings, but it's never discussed as a serious option.  I'm sorry, but I just can't believe the premise.

Particularly given that the promotion and incentive scales haven't even been brought back up to what they were before the Clinton-era cuts...  Given the easy accessibility of promoting increased voluntary enlistment that hasn't even been taken full advantage of yet, I find it incredibly hard to believe that we'd jump immediately to the much more extreme, if slightly more cost-effective, mechanism of drafting unwilling recruits.

First, since and including WWI, every major conflict the U.S. has been involved in, aside from Korea, has been presided over by a Democratic President. Second it is not my intention to debate the veracity of the comments I'm making, you are free to believe or disbelieve them. I'm only asking anyone as a concerned citizen if they are or are not in favor of such a policy. Third, one only need look at the gigantic propaganda campaign waged by the Bush Administration concerning WMD's in Iraq to understand the American public can be frightened into precipitous action. Finally, I'm only asking for a "for or against" comment, not a debate on the sources from which these statements are made.

Against. 

If they try to have a draft this country will be the next Libya.

For. If everyones kids have to go, then the wars would stop.

Posted by micki on 4/6/2011 10:52:00 PM (view original):
For. If everyones kids have to go, then the wars would stop.

I kinda feel the same way.  The problem is there will always be some form of deferment for the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful.

against. But if it happens, then there should be no exemptions for anyone. No more rich men's wars, but  poor men's fight.