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If we’re going to continue with our present course of perpetual war then shouldn't we reinstate the draft so all patriotic Americans get a chance to serve?
I'll accept the draft on these three conditions and these three conditions only:
Women have to be required to sign up for Selective Service the same as their brothers, male cousins, boyfriends, etc. do in order to get "entitlements" and student loans.
The first to be drafted are those who are the children of those making the claim IF they are not of age of perfect health to be drafted.
Lower the drinking age to 18 or raise the draft age to 21, because if you are old enough to go to war, you should be able to drink.
The first comes from something you said, ALL patriotic Americans. ALL Americans would include women who wouldn't get drafted based on the current Selective Service legislation.
Edit: The second comes from the fact that I had a great(possibly great-great) uncle who died from complications of mustard gas and my grandfather (my father's father) would have been tapped for a full-scale Japanese invasion if the bomb wasn't dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (he even had a physical for it.) I imagine most families had people lost in wars they were cohersed to fight in.
This goes for a wart-ime or peace-time armed forces draft FYI
If the children of the wealthy were also asked to contribute I believe this country would have a different attitude towards war. My belief is that it's time to demand that everyone contribute regardless of their economic status. There is no higher honor than to serve one's nation and every citizen should have the opportunity to show their full last measure of devotion.
I second this.
These adventures we have been on that are nothing about defense would come to a halt when the rich elites kids would have to serve as well. For them, it is better to have the lower fodder give up their lives to enrich the top elite because it sure is not enriching the bottom 99%.
The top 1% reap the rewards from our disastrous wars but don't want to pay for it with their lives. They do not want to have skin in the game and want others to pay for it.
Except the people who start the wars and profit from them, of course.
Somehow, I don't see Congress being shipped overseas into the battlefield, nor do I see their lobbyists and big-moneyed backers in the line of fire...
No, bringing back the draft would just allow those in power to continue war forever, content in the knowledge that they will never run out of cannon fodder for corporate war. It's also a nice way to get rid of political opponents and those opposed to the war: "oops, your draft number came up oddly early... and you get to be sent to the most deadly combat area - too bad! Funny how that works!"
If we could devise a way for the corporate and banking lobbyists, politicians and their offspring to be the first to be on the front lines, since it is themselves calling for us to go to war, and for everyone else to sit back and watch the fun on tv, it would be the way to go.
If we’re going to continue with our present course of perpetual war then shouldn't we reinstate the draft so all patriotic Americans get a chance to serve?
Yes and Cheney's grandchildren should serve the front lines, mandatory "service" to "give back" to their nation.
I'm libertarian in respect to any kind of forced public service.....the draft, civilian corps, whatever. If you want to join, fine. Unless we are experiencing an invasion, or some very serious crisis leave me alone. I'll pay my taxes. Obey the rules of the road and such....but I don't want to be subjected to forced relocation, and loss of several years of my life in the "service" of what someone thinks is the right thing to do.
No draft.
However, I am certainly in favor of a mandatory two year period of service to the country.
This 2-year period could be military, and it could be in a non-combatant status; medic, corpsman, hospital orderly, etc.
It could be VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America, sort of a Peace Corps here at home)
It could be a recreation of the Civilian Conservation Corps, to plant trees, maintain trails, etc.
Those who wish to get advanced training would have to sign up for another 4 or 6 years, depending on the cost of the training.
I would amend that with, if you are a politician, it should be mandatory for your offspring to serve in a major combat unit on the front lines. It would provide an incentive for them to really think about if it is worth it for what they themselves call others to do.
Even in the wars of old, the kings rode to battle with their soldiers against the enemies.
It is easy to command others to fight for you when you don't have skin in the game and reap the rewards from it.
If it wasn't for contractors we would never have been able to wage the wars in Iraq, quite different than in the past. Additionally we never had enough front line troops to do the job correctly.
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