First, and probably most importantly, the military is against the draft on all levels. Morale would drop and we really don’t want to increase the size of the military right now. Despite the talk, the military can’t afford to build 1-2 more divisions right now. Operations in Iraq are currently costing about 4 billion per month and Afghanistan costing probably about 1 billion per month. So throwing in 20-40,000 extra people isn’t a good option right now.
Second, it would be political suicide. I’ve heard two reasons for the draft; one was from Charles Sumter (Spelling) who is a democrat from New York. He said that more “middle/upper” American kids should share the burden of war. And he threw in the racism reason. Well, the racism thing can be blown out of the water (considering the share of KIA is nearly proportional to the population and fewer blacks serve in front line combat units.) His other argument could be agreed or disagreed with. My opinion is that military service is a career choice and not a forced choice to be an American citizen. It’s like saying there needs to be a police or firefighter draft.
The current argument is that we need more soldiers. While this is true, there is no reason for the draft. To be technical, the guys we really need are Military Police, Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Intelligence guys and gals. Creating the draft isn’t going to fill those roles. Actually we need those people far more than we need cannon fodder. The biggest risk isn’t that we have enough basic front line soldiers but that we lose the best ones we have. Currently there is a “people” war between the CIA, DIA, and FBI (and probably more agencies) about hiring away the best agents. One of those agencies is going to be hurting (I hear it’s the FBI right now). Add to this that the civilian sector can offer far more money to people with valuable skills than any government agency. Allow this to be a good example as to why we can’t just expand the military. That means more soldiers which means less pay for all and that means less experienced.
Just to end this, they’ll never be another draft. IF, such an unlikely event occurs in the future that would require a large amount of forces (like, say an invasion), then there would enough people volunteering. Think after Pearl Harbor.
One more thing, the Reserves and National Guard did get screwed in the Iraq War. There is a picture of a truck in Iraq with the sign “one weekend a month my ass.” So I do expect a sizable increase in the next few years of the active military. But as of right now I don’t think it’s a good idea.
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Oh the draft, oh the draft…
Date: 2004-09-26 10:30 pm (UTC)Second, it would be political suicide. I’ve heard two reasons for the draft; one was from Charles Sumter (Spelling) who is a democrat from New York. He said that more “middle/upper” American kids should share the burden of war. And he threw in the racism reason. Well, the racism thing can be blown out of the water (considering the share of KIA is nearly proportional to the population and fewer blacks serve in front line combat units.) His other argument could be agreed or disagreed with. My opinion is that military service is a career choice and not a forced choice to be an American citizen. It’s like saying there needs to be a police or firefighter draft.
The current argument is that we need more soldiers. While this is true, there is no reason for the draft. To be technical, the guys we really need are Military Police, Special Forces, Civil Affairs, and Intelligence guys and gals. Creating the draft isn’t going to fill those roles. Actually we need those people far more than we need cannon fodder. The biggest risk isn’t that we have enough basic front line soldiers but that we lose the best ones we have. Currently there is a “people” war between the CIA, DIA, and FBI (and probably more agencies) about hiring away the best agents. One of those agencies is going to be hurting (I hear it’s the FBI right now). Add to this that the civilian sector can offer far more money to people with valuable skills than any government agency. Allow this to be a good example as to why we can’t just expand the military. That means more soldiers which means less pay for all and that means less experienced.
Just to end this, they’ll never be another draft. IF, such an unlikely event occurs in the future that would require a large amount of forces (like, say an invasion), then there would enough people volunteering. Think after Pearl Harbor.
One more thing, the Reserves and National Guard did get screwed in the Iraq War. There is a picture of a truck in Iraq with the sign “one weekend a month my ass.” So I do expect a sizable increase in the next few years of the active military. But as of right now I don’t think it’s a good idea.