Time To Bring Back The Draft

Lacking a draft has meant too many wars of opportunity, lasting too long, and demanding  sacrifices from too few. The truth is the current all-volunteer military has become as unfair as the draft it replaced in the 1970's. There  a growing lack of  understanding between the  US military and those who send it to war. The current  President did not serve in the military, neither did more than a handful of current US House and Senate members. They therefore have a limited understanding of the military's culture and capabilities. At times they give the impression they see it as a mercenary force, existing to fight the country's dirty little wars painlessly, politically speaking. There is also a desire by some in Congress to use the military to advance their political agenda by forcing it to institute their nutty social experiments. The military is not the same as a college campus. The purpose of the military is to fight and win wars. 

It is not an exaggeration to say the US military is fast approaching the point of exhaustion. That happened once before in recent history, the Vietnam War.  Today sending people on 3 combat tours in in a short period of time is asking them to volunteer for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or worse. Today, unlike the Vietnam era, Military personnel are frequently deployed with National Guard or Reserve units. That creates tension within their families more often than  it occurs with families of Regular Army members.  But today,   there is not a constant supply of fresh people to rotate into combat slots. That would not be the problem if a draft was in place.

The second  complaint about the draft was that it discriminated against low income groups. That is occurring again in the all-volunteer military. Realistically, if there are few upper-middle class or upper class members at risk;  it becomes  easier for war planners (who are upper class) to commit to war. Does anyone really believe that if the children of those with political influence had been subject to a draft we would have spent as much blood and treasure in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would wounded veterans from those wars be waiting  a year for the VA to approve their claims?

Social Scientist Charles Murray, in his latest book, COMING APART,  states that the country is becoming increasingly segregated by economic class. He also states that this problem was not as acute in the 1950's, '60's or even '70,s.  Could part of  the reason be because during  that time period the draft was In force?

The draft worked until the Vietnamese War spun out of control, and draft avoidance became the norm  for those who had the means to do so. Basic Training  has been shown to increase bonding among diverse social and economic groups. People learn quickly there and in actual combat to work across economic  class and racial lines. It was not unusual for friendships to develop across those lines. So I advocate bringing back the draft lottery for 18 year olds with few exceptions.  That lottery could be modeled on the one established In the late 1960's.  Does anyone really disagree that we are all US citizens and that we should be wiling  to make sacrifices for the country? Follow me on Twitter      http://www.twitter.com/@stevelambey