Posted on 10/05/2004 2:19:26 AM PDT by greatgranny
Editor's note: Eilhys England contributed to this column.
Recently, when John Kerry brought up the possibility of a return to the draft, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld was quick to respond that Kerry was full of it.
But my take is that Kerry is right on the mark. Not only because Rummy has been flat wrong on every major military call regarding Iraq, but because this is a war that won't be won by smart weapons or the sledgehammer firepower we see every night on the tube.
Right now – with both our regular and Reserve soldiers stretched beyond the breaking point – our all-volunteer force is tapping out. If our overseas troop commitments continue at the present rate or climb higher, there won't be enough Army and Marine grunts to do the job. And thin, overworked units, from Special Forces teams to infantry battalions, lose fights.
Clearly, this war against worldwide, hardcore Islamic believers will be a massive military marathon, the longest and most far-flung in our country's history. By Christmas, more troops could be needed not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but wherever the radical Islamic movement is growing stronger, from the Horn of Africa to Morocco, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen and across Europe – remember Spain?! – to Asia.
Accordingly, we need to bring our ground-fighting and support units to about the strength they were before the Soviet Union imploded, especially since the proper ratio of counterinsurgent-to-insurgent in places like the Middle East should be around 15 to 1. You don't have to be a Ph.D. in military personnel to conclude we need more boots on the ground.
Most of our warriors – who are mainly from blue-collar families from Small Town, USA – have few political connections and few conduits though which they can effectively sound off. So when they get screwed over by a desperate Pentagon's makeshift policies – such as the "Stop Loss" program that's holding over large numbers of our servicemen and -women well beyond their contractually agreed-upon terms of enlistment, or the widespread calling up of out-of-shape, ill-trained citizen soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve – these "volunteers" salute, suck it up and lay their lives on the line.
But like elephants, they won't forget that they are "backdoor draftees," as Kerry and John McCain call them. Which means that when their hitches are up, they won't be rushing to re-enlist. And they're also warning their younger brothers, sisters and pals to stay away from recruiting stations.
Although Pentagon puff artists insist they're making quota, recruiters are already saying it would be easier to find $100 bills on the sidewalk outside a homeless shelter than fill their enlistment quotas, even with the huge bonuses now being paid.
So the draft – which will include both boys and girls this time around – is a no-brainer in '05 and '06.
Oh sure, the Pentagon suits will fight it. Volunteers tend to go with the flow and seldom blow the whistle on military stupidity, flawed tactics and self-serving leadership. And draftees don't hesitate to make waves and tell the truth. Not to mention influential citizens with draft-age kids who'll soon be demanding an answer to the same type of hard question their moms and dads shouted during the Vietnam War: "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"
Rumsfeld, in fact, has already kicked off the anti-draft campaign by denigrating the draftees who fought in Vietnam. The SecDef, who prefers sycophants who don't ask questions, recently stated that Vietnam-era draftees added "No value, no advantage, really, to the United States armed services ... because ... it took an enormous amount of effort in terms of training, and then they were gone."
Wrong once again. I led draftees for almost four years in Vietnam and for several years during the Korean War. If well-led, there are no finer soldiers. Ask the Nazis, the Japanese and the Reds in Korea and in Vietnam, where "no value" draftees cleaned their clocks in fight after fight.
Israel, a country that has lived under the barrel of the Islamic terrorist gun for decades, has the most combat-experienced counterinsurgent force in the world – and boy and girl draftees are its major resource.
Count on it. We will follow their lead.
Hackworth's a kook.
Hackworth has become a leftist shill - again. He has had NO credibility on military issues since Clinton was in office. He needs to be ignored, and he should STFU while some still remember him when he had a mind.
Put down the kool aid Hack, and go away.
Why isn't there a BARF ALERT on this post?!
Ironically, Hackworth later had to remove a listing of a medal on his own website he hadn't earned it.
Priceless.
It gets worse...
Davis Hackworth won a Congressional Medal of Honor, and the assertions made in this article are insightful. Rumsfield did dinegrate the draftees of our nation's past. My grandfather led an Infantry company in the 88thID comprised mostly of draftees in WWII, and they did clean the Nazis' clocks. A draft in he coming years is almost a posititivity if we are going to continue the war on terror at this place. It is astounding that there hasn't been one already. I support the war in Iraq. I support President Bush, but this article should not be ignored. I would have serious reservations about allowing myself or a family member to be drafted after watching people like Kerry and Biden politicize national security. If Kerry was President he might send a few divisions somewhere and decide not to supply them. hackworth is also right about Rumsfield. Rumsfield is done if Bush gets reelected.
Rule of life #326 : "Never trust a man in a turtleneck- particularly a black turtleneck. It means he is morphing into a Frenchman if he isn't already there."
Yeah. And Kerry got some medals too, I hear.
Hackworth, hacks me off. He is the most pessimistic a$$hole around.
Yeah. If you think what Hackworth did and Vietnam and what Kerry did in Vietnam are even remotely the same thing then you are a fool. Congressional Medals of Honor don't get handed out for nothing. Hackworth was an Infantry Officer in Vietnam. He is a retired Colonel. He is probably one of the most respected military people in the entire country. I am voting for Bush. I think Kerry committed treason in two wars. You should be ashamed of yourself for slandering Hackworth, a man who fought in some of the most brutal battles of Vietnam. It is an outrage for people to slander an American hero. Have you ever been in hand-to-hand combat in the jungle at night? This man risked his life for this country. Comparing him to Kerry is a bigger joke than Kerry is. Open your mind people. Information isn't the enemy.
Hackworth certainly did NOT earn a Congressional Medal of Honor. http://www.hackworth.com/awards.html
Did you wonder why he stopped being a consultant on Fox? Perhaps you wonder why he criticizes everything President Bush does.
Since he is not a Medal of Honor winner, perhaps you would pay attention to those who ARE Medal of Honor winners and support President Bush.
Actually I think it was a Ranger tab Hack had thoughtlessly displayed on his web site.
You got me on that one. I don't know why exactly I thought that. He has the next one down I believe in the Distinguished Servicemen's Cross. they don't just give that or Presidential unit citations away. Hackworth's record speaks for itself. Medals don't tell the whole story, but if anybody else has fought gallantly in three foreign wars then I suppose you can bad mouth Hackworth. You can do it any way, but you will be wrong.
Wrong.
By whom??? Not by a heck of a lot of military people. Hack is a hack, and he turns his back on the men and women in harms way whenever it benefits him. He's a glory hound, not a whistleblower. (Not that he didn't USED to be a champion of the military -- he was for a long time. But something has changed in recent years.)
Welcome to FR, Johnnyboy. Or is it welcome back?
Doubt those cowards (terrorists) will ever congregate a large enough force in any one place to require an invasion force and if any "country" decides to take us on it won't be foot soldiers we'll be sending them.
Bob Kerrey DID win the Medal of Honor - I respect his service, but strongly disagree with his politics.
Whatever Hackworth did in WW2/Korea, his politics now consist of pretending to be an expert on the modern military while bad-mouthing Bush and Rumsfeld.
I'm no Rummy fan, but the idea we're about to start a draft is insane - or to be more honest, a lie. When Hackworth says it, he is either stupid or dishonest. Take your choice.
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