To bring back the military draft?

Normally I don't consider very much anything the democrat windbag Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) has to say but his call for a return to the draft (and to include women) is being touted.
http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-ea … king-syria
I definitely think that if our military were composed of draftees voters would be quicker to decry military involvement in other countries when there is not immediate threat to our own. It seems as though a lot of voters today are very nonchalant about our military undertakings because they don't have "any skin in the game."


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  • Military that is NOT made up of 100% volunteers is less likely to become corrupted. A constant input of "forced service" members would reduce nonsense such as the overbearing Christian influence being imposed at the Air Force Academy.
    PDQuesnell 09/07/2013 04:02 AM
  • There are certainly social arguments that support a draft, but the biggest single barrier is that the military itself doesn't want it and can't afford it. Even if you could convince more of the population that a draft would be a good thing (which would be a pretty hard sell), politicians don't usually go too far in crossing the military itself.

    If we didn't go to a draft during Iraq/Afghanistan, it's pretty hard to see a situation where we would. It might have to be something like a WWII, God forbid.
    BearinFW 09/03/2013 12:37 AM
  • I agree with bringing back the draft. If I am not mistaken one of the reasons we have the second amendment was to prevent a professional army in our midst? The military and the corporations have figured out that if you keep workers in debt and their kids in the military you can make a hell of a lot of money.
    barney290 09/02/2013 04:41 PM
  • Both points from manjoguy & quiltguy are valid. We have war because there is profit in it. Historically: royals, religions, military, politicians, the industrial machines were the profiteers. They used the comparatively low cost of suckering the less informed little guy into fighting wars that they said were in the fighter’s benefit with additional veterans benefits offered. (‘Offered’ is a very fluid word.)

    Currently the fundamental structure of the American ‘great experiment...’ a government of, by, & for the people... has basically weakened- barely able to hold up the facade of the world’s super power. No one trusted the governmental armed forces following the Vietnam War, so the military would never have enough public support for more wars if the public had a stake in them. By removing the American involvement of the common citizen majority, the military backed by the large arms manufacturers, who fund the politicians, who run the government, using righteous polemics receive just enough of the majority votes to make wars acceptable. War has become a topic of conversation not a reality of cause and effect.

    So, it is better to have an honest universal draft like in Israel, but the world’s wealthy (... there are exceptions... but few) feel that they are above honesty and find ways to ‘dodge a draft’ using their financial advantage... In Israel many rich people send their kids to the US and England to dodge their draft. There is a reason the wealthy consider themselves privileged. If all people didn’t cheat there would be no wars. What would happen if, like in England, American politicians just said no to war? It would be considered inhumane... And not at all profitable.
    MachineToole 09/02/2013 01:06 PM
  • yeah, because that's what happened in the vietnam war, right? somebody cue "fortunate son", please.
    rae121452 09/02/2013 11:34 AM