Is it time that the United States reinstituted a military draft?

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   xstaticposted 11 years ago

   Is it time that the United States reinstituted a military draft?
   
   Is it fair for the men and women who enlist in the military to be subjected to combat tours again and again, to be deployed abroad so often? If we had a draft today, would it have to include women? Should deferments for college or anything else be allowed? Should some other form of National Service be an option?
   I doubt if any of the above will happen. I was drafted and did not like the Army, but was not deployed abroad. I can't help thinking about the high rate of suicides in our armed forces, and it seems that multiple deployments to combat zones play a big part in that.
   Any thoughts?

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   dahoglundposted 11 years ago

   I have mixed feelings about the draft. there has always been some problem with the idea of a "peacetime" draft. I joined the reserves because I did not want to take chances with the draft. On the other had I feel having a draft can make everyone (almost) have a stake in our conflicts, therefore some people will tend to question more if it is themselves, loved ones or people they know being drafted. I think it should be across the board without deferments. I never understood why student were differed or even exempt. Anyhow it creates a situation where one class of people do not have to serve and others do. Allowance should be made for concientious objectors but it would be best if they were put in non-combat possisions if their churches did not object to that.

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Your feelings are as mixed as my own. Thanks for answering.

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   Goody5posted 11 years ago

   I could get into a long drawn out answer to this question, however I can simply answer it in two letters - NO!

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Very succint,

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   dashingscorpioposted 11 years ago

   No. The draft only leads to another divide in the nation. By not having a draft the military is forced to compete with the public sector to get quality candidates and provide better benefits.
   Unfortunately in a down economy it is often the poor and less educated that turn to the military as an option to improve their lives. I suspect if we had not shipped so many manufacturing jobs overseas there might be more discussions regarding bringing back the draft because there would probably be less people (choosing) to join the military.
   Probably one of the smartest things the government ever did was getting rid of the draft. Several years ago someone asked me why there were not more people protesting the war in Iraq when many believed there really weren't any WMD there. He asked why aren't people up in arms the way they were during Vietnam. I told him, :"There is no draft. No one is forced to join the military anymore."

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      True. If the sons and daughters of more affluent citizens had been sent into Iraq, that war would not have lasted so long. I am not in favor of a draft, it is the lack of jobs for lower income people that feeds the military, as you say.

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      ptosisposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The unemployment is kept high so kids don't have much choice but go into the military. It's a shame that 1% are deployed over & over again. Make it like the IDF, All sexes, 2 years, get education, housing help afterwards.

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   By Loriposted 11 years ago

   Of course there should not be a draft. My older brother was in Vietnam and I remember those days. If we all wanted to be honest about the blood-for-profit wars that having been churning on with no end since Vietnam, why would we want a draft ?  To send our youth to death or maiming over wars we don't need to fight ?  Plenty of ex-service people agree with me. And it's no disrespect to anyone in service. They are the brave ones with idealism. What I can't stand is how we really are not told the truth about the real reasons for these wars we have been fighting.  Notice how they now go from one war to the next ? It's a business. War is big business. Many evil people profit from it. Don't you know, arms manufacturers are thrilled at the way we've been in war non-stop. Think about it. Non-stop. We are all supposed to just get used to that, and many apparently have.
   
   As far as people in the military being deployed over and over, no that's not fair. So we need to ask those in power to stop the blood-for-profit wars. That would solve it, wouldn't it ? Instead of offering up more people to sacrifice in wars, we need to just take a stand and say "what is going on here ?".  We are losing many of our own rights too, in the name of "security". Link that together with war-for-profit and what do you get ?

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree wholeheartedly, especially as an ex-draftee.

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      By Loriposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      And thank you for your service,Xstatic.

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years ago

   I don't think having a draft is a bad idea, but since the size of the military will be decreasing shortly, why would a draft be necessary?

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Good question. We have these cycles, it seems, of wars and other military adventures and I hate to think of reservists being called up again for more deployments.  I really hope the question is moot, and we can stay out of armed conflict a long time.

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   lone77starposted 11 years ago

   When the wars perpetrated by America are only for Corporate greed, I would say that all should not join the military. Period!
   
   The Vietnam War was a farce based upon the lie of the Gulf of Tonkin "incident" that never happened.
   
   The Iraq War was based upon the lies of WMDs and 9/11.
   
   Why should we trust a government that continues to lie and to shred the Constitution they swore to defend?
   
   If America looks exactly like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany, then why would we want to defend it?
   
   The trouble is, the science of deception has become so effective that the Corporate Party media can sell any lie and demonize any attempt to question its authority.
   
   Do you know that it's physically impossible for 3 buildings to collapse symmetrically at near-perfect free-fall acceleration through the paths of greatest resistance by gravity alone? Minimum collapse time for the towers in New York, if built with no margin of safety, is 44 seconds! And yet each tower collapsed in just a little over 10 seconds.
   
   And in the 9/11 dust, several tons of iron microspheres prove that something was far hotter than the fires from the 2 airplane crashes or the scattered fires in WTC7. Those microspheres prove that 9/11 was an inside job. That's science.
   
   After our own government colluded with corporations to murder our own citizens, does our government deserve to exist? I'd say it's time for another George Washington to overthrow the tyranny.

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      ptosisposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Also all the debris was shipped to China instead of shifted through for years by the FAA as in all other plane crashes.

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   ReneeDC1979posted 11 years ago

   I think those who enter the military should only have to make a one tour commitment.  I think all of those in gangs and anyone going around shooting and killing people should be in the military as part of their sentence.

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      xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Discipline might be aproblem for that kind of recrruit, but it would help them if they lived through it.

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   Admiral Murrahposted 11 years ago

   I have always been under the impression that forced servitude was done away with in the 13th amendment. Given that being forced to do things against your will may go by other names, the practice was supposed to have ended.

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    Uninvited Writerposted 11 years ago

    The wars are ending, no need for a draft when you have declared war on no one.

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       xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Amd I hope it stays that way, but we have had many undeclared wars, more than those declared in the twentieth century. I am not advocating a draft. The question occurred to me after reading about high suicide rates among our troops.

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       ptosisposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       xstatic is correct. Just because it isn't declared doesn't mean it's not happening!

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    Aley Martinposted 11 years ago

    How about we stop going to war? That should take care of the issue.

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       xstaticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Yesssss, an especially good idea!

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       ptosisposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Dream on.

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