Gen. Stanley McChrystal: Bring back the Draft

[eodx9000]

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander of international forces in Afghanistan, said this week that the United States should bring back the draft if it ever goes to war again.

 

"I think we ought to have a draft. I think if a nation goes to war, it shouldn't be solely be represented by a professional force, because it gets to be unrepresentative of the population," McChrystal said at a late-night event June 29 at the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival. "I think if a nation goes to war, every town, every city needs to be at risk. You make that decision and everybody has skin in the game."

 

He argued that the burdens of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan haven't been properly shared across the U.S. population, and emphasized that the U.S. military could train draftees so that there wouldn't be a loss of effectiveness in the war effort.

 

http://thecable.fore..._back_the_draft

 

(I didn't know where to post this, so I posted it here.)

 

On the one hand, I don't think anyone should be forced to enter into any association.

 

On the other hand, by bringing back the draft, there could and should be a huge spike in wariness for war as most people would have to think twice about their own children and even themselves and that could potentially cause us to finally withdraw from the middle east (or so I could hope).

Edited July 5, 2012 by eodx9000

[tetradite]

I kinda share the OP's split thinking on this.

 

On a personal level, I absolutely disagree with the principle, I wouldn't obey any military draft. My own government would have to shoot or imprison me.

 

However, I know what the general is saying about "everyone having skin in the game" though. The decision to go to war might carry more weight if the decision makers had something to lose by doing it other than their pride or reputation.

 

But.... even with a draft do we honestly believe the kids of the decision makers will be put in any danger if they don't want to be? (See George Dubya Bush's 'military record' for reference).

 

Also, I would imagine drafted civilians with no military experience would be next to useless in most situations. They've still gotta be trained and all that. On a practical level, I would imagine a draft only makes tactical sense if:

 

a- you really are that utterly desperate for greater troop numbers AND/OR

b- all civilians have already done a period of compulsory military service, meaning they have some basic competency already (another point I'd oppose on principle)

 

If a- occurs you're probably fighting an unwinable war or stretched over too many fronts anyway, and it wouldn't make sense to carry on unless your own territorial integrity is at stake.

Edited July 5, 2012 by tetradite

[Vagrant0]

I believe the motivations of this sentiment towards bringing back the draft stem from the fact that the war really isn't felt back home aside from in small pockets of the community. People who have no personal stake in the war are the sorts that do majorly disrespectful things... like protesting funerals for those who have died for their country. There is also the irony in people who proclaim their freedoms and make open use of those freedoms, but who would refuse to fight for them, or be willing to lay down their life so that someone else might have some measure of freedom and prosperity brought to their country. With the draft, votes have much more implication on the personal level than what is being touted by the party since a president keen on going to war thoughtlessly is one who potentially impacts every family with a child over the age of service.

 

 

Personally, I believe a mandatory period of service either in the armed forces or the civil service should be a requirement for all people after graduating highschool. Not only would it help fill that void where most really don't know what to do with their lives, and aren't ready to take education seriously with a set of experiences and skills that make them better people; but it would also make many more aware of just what they are paying taxes for.

[Aurielius]

Speaking from experience having served with both volunteers and draftees I would always choose a volunteer over a draftee for actual combat. Frankly the idea of some discontented draftee watching my six is would be disconcerting and one I fortunately never had to endure (since all aviators are volunteers and throughly pre weeded before they ever come in contact with an actual combat zone). Though I have nothing against the idea of some form of national service, it could be like the Peace Corps or a modernized version of the Public Works Authority of the 30's. Such a shared commonality would at least give a unifying experience to each new generation and serve the nation as well. They will never restore the draft, the idea that little John or Jane might actually get their butt shot off enforcing the policy directives of an administration would never fly in this current multi generational age of self involvement. One last thing, if a draft was restored it should be both genders with no deferments for college kids..real equality for wealthy or poor..

[marharth]

Seems like a good idea to me to force people to die in a unjust war.

 

Also seems genius to pull the people who could help the future of the world out of college to go get shot at.

[ginnyfizz]

Well that's what happened to my uncle in WW2, marharth. Nineteen years old, reading Chemistry and had left Oxford to fight for King and Country - he volunteered. He thought, he could always go back - there was a promise that after the war college places would be kept open for servicemen who wished for them and they were. But not, as it happened, for him as he and his Lancaster along with the rest of his squadron (quite famous) left Scampton one night and he bought it over the Ruhr. It was what it was. And officer and gentleman that he was, he would have been appalled at any suggestion that the lives of the less intellectual grunts were worth less than his. After a cataclysmic war, we needed both the brains AND the muscles working in industry in order to rebuild.

[Ghogiel]

AFAIK the US can still draft you... A few years ago I got my papers from the gov exempting me from ever being drafted.

[McclaudEagle]

Personally, the idea of a democratic nation forcing people to join in any organization they do not wish to join is wrong. You could never justify calling yourself a democratic government if you did. However, if they did indeed do it, I think it should only be for civil purposes. Forcing someone to put their own life on the line is immoral, and it's also dangerous, not just to them, but to everyone around them. If someone drafted me and told me to fight against my will, the gun in my hand would probably be pressed against their head instead of the enemy's.

 

There are many volunteers who join the military, then end up hating it. Can you imagine the problems that would be caused by someone who was forced to join against their will?

 

The only time military drafting could ever be justified is during an extreme crisis, like a new World War.

[Moveing]

Yeah bring back the draft, let the middleclass kids get killed and wake up their lazy, dumb, fat and zombie-state Parents how freaking criminal the Government is.

 

The Protests against the Vietnam war started when the middleclass kids got killed.

 

 

Hey why don't we force the warmonger politicians and defence contractors children to fight and die? Let them go, let them get killed. Imagine one of the Rockefeller Brats die in iraq.

[Vagrant0]

I think that what most people don't understand is that in a modern war, a draft just isn't practical on any large scale. The old methods of "boots on the ground" occupation just doesn't work in this world any more unless it also involves laying an entire country to waste. The cost per soldier is much too high to maintain effectiveness when losses are high. This is why at the onset of the last incursion into Iraq, there wasn't even enough money to give soldiers the armor and protection they needed. More boots on the ground in a modern war means spreading what resources are present even thinner, and more loss of life.

 

Not to discount any of the lives lost in any conflict. But really we lose more young, capable people with their futures ahead of them every day to drugs, auto accidents, domestic violence, or disease monthly than we have lost in every conflict since 9/11. Compared to WWII or Vietnam, they are a drop in the bucket. Death is part of war, but our death toll has remained small simply because we have a small footprint in these conflicts.

 

 

What I do however agree on is the need for something to make young people feel connected to their country, to see the need for protecting ideals, to experience a world outside their bubble-wrapped homes, to have a more personal interaction with their community and country. I think that is really what is intended in the sentiment to bring back the draft since the draft was what made these feelings most prevalent in the past.