War Czar Considers Draft.

[SirNitram]

Link

WASHINGTON (AP) - Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.

``I think it makes sense to certainly consider it,'' Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's ``All Things Considered.''

``And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another,'' Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.

President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973. Restoring it, Lute said, would be a ``major policy shift'' and Bush has made it clear that he doesn't think it's necessary.

The repeated deployments affect not only the troops but their families, who can influence whether a service member decides to stay in the military, Lute said.

``There's both a personal dimension of this, where this kind of stress plays out across dinner tables and in living room conversations within these families,'' he said. ``And ultimately, the health of the all-volunteer force is going to rest on those sorts of personal family decisions.''

The military conducted a draft during the Civil War and both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. The Selective Service System, re-established in 1980, maintains a registry of 18-year-old men.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has called for reinstating the draft as a way to end the Iraq war.

Bush picked Lute in mid-May as a deputy national security adviser with responsibility for ensuring efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are coordinated with policymakers in Washington. Lute, an active-duty general, was chosen after several retired generals turned down the job.

Well, that kills the idea he's sensible, I suspect.

[General Zod]

Doesn't something like this typically get proposed every year and shot down every year?

[Flagg]

Doesn't something like this typically get proposed every year and shot down every year?

Yeah, but usually by a Democratic representative trying to get a draft enacted as a way to get Americans to oppose the war.

[Mr Bean]

Major policy shift does not even begin to cover it.
It's fun to say that magic word, "draft"
Except, where will the food come from? The magic budget fairy?
The equipment to arm them? The magic procurement fairy?
The buildings to house them? The magic house building gnomes?
The role to use them in? If Vietnam and Korea taught us anything, it's that draft soldiers make shitty peacekeepers.

You do not want the guys who don't want to be there, as your ambassadors of good will towards the people. Why should some 20 year old collage dropout give two shits if the Sunni's translators he works with think he's a shit. Why should he care? Sure, that lack of goodwill will increase his chances of ending up dead before he makes it back stateside. But will he figure that out and start caring in time?

Now then if Bush administration "hidden" goal is war with Iran before he leaves office, then yes, a draft is most likley highly necessary, actual war fighting, draftee's come in big help, use them for rear area, or to augment traditional forces, draftee's best use is in actual war fighting, winning the peace? Forget about it, but if you want meat for the grinder, there's where you use them.

*Note I think war with Iran would be up there with the top three most idiotic things to do right now, number four is reinstate the drat to try and create peace keepers for Iraq. In short, I hate the idea of the draft because drafters are so damn useless at everything but war fighting and stateside crap.

[Sea Skimmer]

Well if it’s his job to consider all options, even the unacceptable ones, then he’s doing it just fine.

[chitoryu12]

All I can say is that I'll be draft age within three years. I can only hope that either the war ends before that or the draft gets shot down first.

[Gil Hamilton]

All I can say is that I'll be draft age within three years. I can only hope that either the war ends before that or the draft gets shot down first.

There is no way there is going to be a draft unless something of massive rectal potency hits the fan.

[Coriolis]

Shit, if they can't adequately supply our current forces, how do they expect to do the same with draftees? More contractors?

[Dark Flame]

The war's unpopular enough as it is. Why add fuel to the fire? Didn't the draft riots of the Vietnam era give any clue as to how Americans view the draft in the television (or Internet) age?

[chitoryu12]

All I can say is that I'll be draft age within three years. I can only hope that either the war ends before that or the draft gets shot down first.

There is no way there is going to be a draft unless something of massive rectal potency hits the fan.

When I think about it, though, maybe I wouldn't be drafted anyway. Don't they try to avoid people not in good physical condition? I have terrible asthma -- can't even jog a quarter mile without wheezing -- and a twisted tibia in my left leg, to the point where after jogging a mile, the next day simply stepping out of the shower causes me to stumble. The training alone would probably keep me in the hospital.

[Falkenhayn]

All I can say is that I'll be draft age within three years. I can only hope that either the war ends before that or the draft gets shot down first.

There is no way there is going to be a draft unless something of massive rectal potency hits the fan.

When I think about it, though, maybe I wouldn't be drafted anyway. Don't they try to avoid people not in good physical condition? I have terrible asthma -- can't even jog a quarter mile without wheezing -- and a twisted tibia in my left leg, to the point where after jogging a mile, the next day simply stepping out of the shower causes me to stumble. The training alone would probably keep me in the hospital.

In the old days, your draft classification was determined by an on sight physical. You'd probably be 4-F, unfit for military service.

[TC Pilot]

When I think about it, though, maybe I wouldn't be drafted anyway. Don't they try to avoid people not in good physical condition? I have terrible asthma -- can't even jog a quarter mile without wheezing -- and a twisted tibia in my left leg, to the point where after jogging a mile, the next day simply stepping out of the shower causes me to stumble. The training alone would probably keep me in the hospital.

All males are legally required to sign up for the Selective Service at age 18, thus making you eligible for drafting. Your physical condition would not be sufficient exemption, but would neccesarily limit what roles you could or would fill.

But don't worry. Unless there's a legitimate threat to the United States or her interests (hypothetical war with China, Russia, or Europe), there's virtually no chance the draft will be reinstated. Anyone who would try it would be committing political suicide. If the Republicans tried it now, the party would implode.

[chitoryu12]

Of course, I could just find my dad's old cabin in the woods of New Brunswick and hide there if I'm at risk. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not doing anything military-related in my life.

[Drooling Iguana]

I've got a couch available to anyone that wants to hop the Canadian border if they institute this thing, though my apartment's a bit cramped, even for one person.

[chitoryu12]

I've got a couch available to anyone that wants to hop the Canadian border if they institute this thing, though my apartment's a bit cramped, even for one person.

The idea is to avoid people. And considering that my dad lived in the cabin for around a decade, I would assume it is liveable.

[phongn]

Of course, I could just find my dad's old cabin in the woods of New Brunswick and hide there if I'm at risk. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not doing anything military-related in my life.

I do hope you know that there could be very adverse consequences if you're caught sometime in the future even after any conflict has ended.

[Ace Pace]

There is no way there is going to be a draft unless something of massive rectal potency hits the fan.

When I think about it, though, maybe I wouldn't be drafted anyway. Don't they try to avoid people not in good physical condition? I have terrible asthma -- can't even jog a quarter mile without wheezing -- and a twisted tibia in my left leg, to the point where after jogging a mile, the next day simply stepping out of the shower causes me to stumble. The training alone would probably keep me in the hospital.

In the old days, your draft classification was determined by an on sight physical. You'd probably be 4-F, unfit for military service.

Thats rather silly, the IDF would classify him as unfit for combat service, but he'd be given a job doing some rear end work, rather then wasting a person.

[Gil Hamilton]

I do hope you know that there could be very adverse consequences if you're caught sometime in the future even after any conflict has ended.

Depends. I'd think that if President Bush and Congress instituted a draft on the way out, once the scope of the conflict was over, there would almost certainly be an amnesty for draft dodgers by the HEAVILY democratic government that would follow.

[phongn]

Depends. I'd think that if President Bush and Congress instituted a draft on the way out, once the scope of the conflict was over, there would almost certainly be an amnesty for draft dodgers by the HEAVILY democratic government that would follow.

Well, I was assuming a more likely scenario of a draft in the event of some major conflict.

[Battlehymn Republic]

Hypotheticals time- under what scenario could there possibly be a reinstitution of the draft?

[weemadando]

Hypotheticals time- under what scenario could there possibly be a reinstitution of the draft?

This?

[Lord of the Abyss]

Hypotheticals time- under what scenario could there possibly be a reinstitution of the draft?

The one that comes to mind is if a warlike party controls both Congress & the Presidency, and has enough of a lock on the electoral system that they rightly or wrongly think they can ignore the unpopularity of a draft.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if that was, in fact, one of the original plans of the neocons. I've been hearing for years about the Bush Admin funding and staffing draft boards, and in general acting like it wanted/planned for a draft, and I also heard plenty of talk from the right about a permanent Republican majority. And making plans based on their fantasies does seem to be a pattern with them. And they'd need a larger army to carry out their American Empire fantasies.

[Broomstick]

When I think about it, though, maybe I wouldn't be drafted anyway. Don't they try to avoid people not in good physical condition? I have terrible asthma -- can't even jog a quarter mile without wheezing -- and a twisted tibia in my left leg, to the point where after jogging a mile, the next day simply stepping out of the shower causes me to stumble. The training alone would probably keep me in the hospital.

In the old days, your draft classification was determined by an on sight physical. You'd probably be 4-F, unfit for military service.

Thats rather silly, the IDF would classify him as unfit for combat service, but he'd be given a job doing some rear end work, rather then wasting a person.

Tell the draft board you're gay. Swish while doing so.

[Broomstick]

I do hope you know that there could be very adverse consequences if you're caught sometime in the future even after any conflict has ended.

Depends. I'd think that if President Bush and Congress instituted a draft on the way out, once the scope of the conflict was over, there would almost certainly be an amnesty for draft dodgers by the HEAVILY democratic government that would follow.

There has never been blanket amnesty for draft-dodges in US history. Damn few special cases, either.

Dodge the draft and get caught you go to jail.

Remember, if you go to Canada you'll be an illegal. Even if the Canadian government has mercy on you and grants you either legal residency or citizenship (as happened to same Viet Nam era draft dodgers) you will not be able to return to the US even for a visit without risking arrest. If the US government finds you in its territory it will prosecute you and put you in jail. Granted, it's not the end of your life (Muhammad Ali survived it, and the felony conviction did not seem to stand in his way much), but it will be a major inconvenience.

[Knife]

All I can say is that I'll be draft age within three years.

You and over four million people per year will reach the age of 18. That's the stupidity of these draft proposals, that unless they are very limited or narrowly defined, four million-ish men and women reach age 18 per year. That is a shit load of people to train, equip and find something to do with and that's PER YEAR.

Granted, you could pare that down a bit, disabled, smart college kids who could benifit in other ways, special people with powerful daddys. But still, even if your generous at axe out ten percent of that, three and half milion per year is an aweful lot to absorb.