Rumsfeld to Military Draft: "I Just Can't Imagine It"
Defense Secretary Donald Rumselfd declared that he "can't imagine" the revival of a military draft. Top military officials and some members of Congress have complained of the over-deployment of troops, especially the Reserves, who make up 40 percent of the force in Iraq. While there is little doubt that our troops are stretched thin and, according to many experts, we do not have nearly enough troops on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are not many politicians calling for a new military draft. Which is hardly surprising given that this is an election year and a real effort to revive the draft could be political suicide. For example, Sen. John Warner, appearing on Meet the Press this weekend, stated his opposition to a military draft:
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"The answer is no. You just can't go out equitably and grab 5 percent of the young people and force them into uniform without making all of the young people begin to do something comparable ... suddenly you've got one of the more enormously expensive programs where we're giving GI bill (benefits) to military people and those who are brought in to perform other tasks."
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On the flip side the Pentagon has called up 5,600 retired soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve to serve in Iraq. Plus tens of thousands of soldiers serving in Iraq will have their service extended when their voluntary service commitment ends. Many, including presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, are calling this a "back door draft", forcing soldiers into involuntary service. These measures create worries that our military may stretched too thin to deal with unforseen events.
Is it really possible that there would be a new military draft? Well, its up to you. We have 120,000 troops on the ground in Iraq-and we don't have many more to send over. Situations that might require a massive increase in troops would include a drastic deterioration in Iraq (i.e., civil war), or perhaps if the regimes in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan fell to radical Islam.
Some argue, on the other hand, for a new draft not necessarily on the grounds of military necessity, but rather of fairness and to promote social cohesion. That's an entirely different position. Though it seems to have a somewhat broader constituency.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumselfd declared that he "can't imagine" the revival of a military draft. Top military officials and some members of Congress have complained of the over-deployment of troops, especially the Reserves, who make up 40 percent of the force in Iraq. While there is little doubt that our troops are stretched thin and, according to many experts, we do not have nearly enough troops on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan, there are not many politicians calling for a new military draft. Which is hardly surprising given that this is an election year and a real effort to revive the draft could be political suicide. For example, Sen. John Warner, appearing on Meet the Press this weekend, stated his opposition to a military draft:
==
"The answer is no. You just can't go out equitably and grab 5 percent of the young people and force them into uniform without making all of the young people begin to do something comparable ... suddenly you've got one of the more enormously expensive programs where we're giving GI bill (benefits) to military people and those who are brought in to perform other tasks."
==
On the flip side the Pentagon has called up 5,600 retired soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve to serve in Iraq. Plus tens of thousands of soldiers serving in Iraq will have their service extended when their voluntary service commitment ends. Many, including presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, are calling this a "back door draft", forcing soldiers into involuntary service. These measures create worries that our military may stretched too thin to deal with unforseen events.
Is it really possible that there would be a new military draft? Well, its up to you. We have 120,000 troops on the ground in Iraq-and we don't have many more to send over. Situations that might require a massive increase in troops would include a drastic deterioration in Iraq (i.e., civil war), or perhaps if the regimes in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan fell to radical Islam.
Some argue, on the other hand, for a new draft not necessarily on the grounds of military necessity, but rather of fairness and to promote social cohesion. That's an entirely different position. Though it seems to have a somewhat broader constituency.
posted by Anonymous at 4:33 PM
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