Posted on 11/04/2004 5:03:15 AM PST by Former Military Chick
Now that the presidential election is over, it is time to consider reinstating the military draft.
Both President Bush and Sen. Kerry said emphatically that they would not institute a military draft to shore up our troops, but that was yesterday. This is today. Times change. Situations change.
You might have noticed that neither candidate said what he would do if the United States needs to bring back mandatory conscription.
No one got around to asking the candidates that question. That's a shame because it's easy to imagine situations where the United States will need more troops than we currently have in our all-volunteer military.
"We're not going to have a draft, period," Bush told the nation during one of the televised debates.
"An all-volunteer army is best suited to fight the new wars of the 21st century," Bush said. "We don't need mass armies anymore."
Surely Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and the military brass hope that an all-volunteer military will be able to protect this nation at home and abroad and also adequately project America's geopolitical enterprises overseas.
Hope, however, cannot calm the tempest. It is impotent as a national security policy.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said a draft is not needed or desirable. The U.S. House of Representatives voted down a bill to reinstate the draft by an overwhelming 402-2.
Since the reinstatement of the draft would require legislation approved by Congress and signed by the president, that would appear to put an end to the speculation.
The only problem is that the House vote was a largely political maneuver designed to squelch rumors of a "secret plan" to bring back the draft. It was based not only on politics, but also on current military demands.
There are about 157,000 troops now in Iraq with 133,000 of those in U.S. uniforms. In the lead up to the invasion of Iraq, Gen. Eric Shinseki, who then was the Army chief of staff, and then-Secretary of the Army Thomas White said the Iraq war would take "several hundred thousand soldiers."
Toppling Saddam Hussein's regime was easier than everyone expected, but the nation-building has been much more difficult than anyone imagined.
It turns out that more troops are needed to provide stability in Iraq after the regime change than in the actual war.
Times change. Situations change. Hope doesn't phase reality.
Already soldiers and Marines are being rotated back into Iraq in an effort to provide the needed troop strength to combat the deadly insurgency dedicated to preventing the establishment of an Iraqi democratic government. In what amounts to a "back-door draft," other U.S. troops already in Iraq are having their tours extended.
The terrorist-supporting mullahs in Iran appear intent on building their own nuclear bomb and could spark a civil war in next-door Iraq between their fellow Shia disciples and Iraq's Sunni minority.
North Korea apparently already has nuclear weapons and the insular communist nation is run by an unstable cult-like leader who could either invade Seoul, South Korea, or launch a nuke at Japan.
Current U.S. military plans call for pulling more of our troops out of South Korea and hoping for the best.
Because U.S. troop strength is stretched so thin now, it is out of the question to send troops into Sudan to stop the genocide of the black citizens in Darfur who are being slaughtered, raped and driven from their land with the support of the Sudanese government.
The all-volunteer military has been a 30-year success and will continue to be a success as long as demand for the military doesn't outstrip the supply of volunteers.
Unfortunately, U.S. military troop strength appears at the tipping point right now. We can either hope that the situation doesn't get worse, or we can consider more realistic alternatives.
Rowland Nethaway's columns appear on Wednesday and Friday.
Get over it, you liberal rags!
They obviously would love to see Dubya break a promise and do it immediately.
I guess the Left can't stop themselves. They all recall their 60's protest days as the golden era and long to have it return. Without the draft, they know they can't stir up enough resistance to the government to make their revolutionary tactics viable.
Lying Bastards.
This is the journalist's way of crying after losing - it makes 'em feel good, and no one sees the red eyes. They need a hug. ;)
If things got really bad we would quit pussyfooting around and carpet bomb places like Fallujah. That would free up troops for elsewhere.
looks like 2008 election cycle is starting already...
The entire 'Rat post-Clinton philosophy of Truth v. Non-Truth, right there... boiled down to its essence.
Same old tactic. They suggest that the president needs to break his promise so they can make an issue of his broken promise.
The left also does not get that a draftee army with required tours of 1.5 to 2 years does not serve the needs of the modern military.
Most new soldiers require a minimum of a year to actually train to job proficiency. They spend anywhere from 6 mos to 1 year in specific training at a training institute. Then they must gain actual field expertise through training exercises, daily experience, and weekly NCO training sessions.
For a 1.5 year tour, just when they become ready to be useful, they are gone. For a 2 year tour, they are gone 6 months after becoming marginally proficient.
The military now requires a minimum 3 year tour (and that's hard to find) with reality being the standard 4 to 6 year intitial tours.
The way to increase the size of the military is through increased pay and benefits. It is a tough demanding, RISKY job, and if the pay is commensurate with the costs, then there will be plenty of quality enlistees.
Just remember, they didn't have a volunteer Army at Stalingrad.
You know, the first thing that comes to mind when I read an article like this, papa Bush. His remarks on taxes. That was then this now.
I just feel he will keep his word that he gave during the debate.
Excellent post.
How true!
Uh, Rowland, that expression isn't meant to be interpreted literally. While GWB did pay special tribute to Texas in his victory remarks, I don't think he elevated you all to cabinet level posts. And if that is the best you can offer, well ... better find another day job.
I have the person to console the paper, Kerry, he wanted to be a more sensitive kind a leader! He and Edwards hug so much that an innocent by stander might have thought there was something going on! :)
Does the left not get it, Bush said during a debate, there will be no drafts.This is good, I think. Normally, the lefties are caught so far in their fever-swamp hallucinations that they can't see the real world anymore. To cure them, it is necessary to catch the few instances where their delusions lead them to make predictions about the real world, like: "Bush will reinstate the draft!" Note that this claim will be unambiguously refuted in four years. Same with claims like: "Bush will round up gays in concentration camps!" Sometimes, the lefties make clear predictions such as these, and when you confront them with reality in a couple years, they will have to face the truth that their worldview cannot be quite correct. Now, some of them will take the opportunity to become even more insane. But some others will reconsider and switch over to our side.
Such is the way of things :-)
Some of these nuts are so bent on the failure of the US that they would do anything to help the enemy. They would love wwIII to happen just to say, "I told you so..." and then they would finally go to Canada.
They have not been weened from the teet of fat media that only shows killed or captured US militarty as "heroes". The media does not show successful soldiers as heroes, oh no, that won't do. The way the media shows it, we are only heros when we are broken. We are only heroes when we are humbled and captured.
The news makes the captured the hero and leaves the soldiers that rescue them in the shadows. Its so weird.
And this crap is so ingrained in folks they can't even support the greatest nation on earth. The greatest hope for personal liberty and freedom people have on this planet.
I am so grateful so many Americans voted on the side of reality instead of the side of fantasy and shame.
America inspires me! I thank God for the blessing of being born in this great land. Let's Roll!!!
:)
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