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We DO need a draft. Fear not, we have many FReepers now seeing the light. Over 100 of them have voted "Whatever it takes to win" in the latest FReeper Poll.

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I support a draft under these conditions.....

No college or work deferments (except LEO and FF).

Co-ed.

Lottery based.

No draftees in combat MOS unless they volunteer or unless there is all-out war.

http://www.sss.gov/WHHAP.HTM

Two out of four of you concerns are answered at the sss site.

Co-Ed? I agree, but that would be a big fight in Congress. Be fun to watch.

"No draftees in combat MOS unless they volunteer or unless there is all-out war."

I don't know how that would be handled. Needs of the service, probably.

We are at war.

The Constitution doesn't recognize War and War Lite, only that a state of war exists. Traditionally we have used two different instruments for declaring war. When dealing with a sovereign nation we have used a declaraion of war, and we took it off the books in the treaty that ended the war. When dealing with a non-sovereign, like the Barbary Pirates or al-Quaeda, we used a declaration authorizing the use of force. (That we didn't remove these declarations from the books after the non-sovereign was defeated was simply a matter of legislative sloppiness, and nothing further should be read into that.)

While a declaration of war and a declaration authorizing the use of force are two different instruments of war, they have the same constitutional weight. However, they don’t have the same political weight.

Looking at the two world wars of the 20th Century, once war was declared, Americans banded together to fight the common enemy. Dissent was crushed or severely chastised. But declarations authorizing the use of force have had problematic histories from the invasions of Haiti and Nicaragua in the early 20th Century to Vietnam and the current imbroglio in the Middle East.

During World War II the enemy was an ideology so evil that few could miss the point. Two years before America became involved in the war, the British and Canadians were already fighting, and many Americans took the train across the Canadian border to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force. (This is a far cry from those Americans who crossed to Canada during the Vietnam debacle.)

After Pearl Harbor, America launched its first full military mobilization since 1917. The draft had been reinstated a year earlier, and now American males received letters that began, “Greetings from the President.” Few thought of evading the draft, and huge crowds of angry men mobbed recruiting centers to enlist. There were no voices calling the attack “a law enforcement problem”. There were no voices saying that America had brought the attack upon itself because of some flaw in its makeup or policies. There were few who said that such an attack was not sufficient reason to go to war. No anti-war demonstrators ever took to the streets, and if they had, an angry mob would have lynched them before the police could have arrested them. With the 1941 declaration of war, we operated under what I call “World War II Rules”.

American society and industry underwent full mobilization. Industrial plants manufacturing consumer goods were converted to war plants under full government industrial planning.
Gasoline was rationed, and a 35 mph national speed limit was enforced. Billboards with the message, “Is this trip really necessary?” were ubiquitous. Posters reminded people that when they drove alone, they were “riding with Hitler.”
Silk, nylon, rubber and copper were among many materials that were reserved for military use, and those who dabbled in the black market were imprisoned. Foodstuffs were rationed, people were warned not to hoard food and told to report those who did. Catholics had always had meatless Fridays, but now the entire nation had meatless Tuesdays.
American women planted “victory gardens”, Boy Scouts scavenged metal and rubber “for the war plants,” and people were encouraged to buy war bonds because, “It's bonds or bondage!” (Just try using that slogan in San Francisco today!) On the radio, when American women heard, “Ladies, bring your fat cans down to the corner butcher,” they knew it referred to cans of rendered fat, not oversize buttocks.
In wartime all news coverage is propaganda. No matter how bad the news from the front, the reassuring voices of Edward R. Murrow, Ed Herlihy and Lowell Thomas explained how this latest setback was merely a bump in the road on “our way to total victory!” All war news was censored. Reporters censored themselves, editors censored reporters, and publishers censored editors. If a publisher prepared to print something that undermined morale or the war effort, the FBI paid a visit.

If we were operating under World War II rules today, things would be different.

Gasoline rationing would likely be in effect. Money paid to the Saudis for their oil has long trickled into al-Qaeda’s coffers, and the US would become quite choosy as to the sources of its oil. Alaska would be drilled deeply and thoroughly. Posters would appear telling people that when they drove alone, they were “riding with Osama”. Money devoted to highways would be diverted to public transportation on a massive scale.
War is based on credit, and rather than pass tax cuts the government would raise taxes through the roof to cover the cost of war. War bond campaigns would flood the media.
Mainstream Media outlets issuing news coverage slanted against the war would receive a visit from the government.
Those anti-war demonstrators in Oakland who blocked stevedores from loading a naval ammunition ship would be greeted by lead instead of rubber. The survivors would be arrested for treason.
People who put "No Iraq War" signs in the windows of their homes would be severely ostracized by their neighbors, if not burned out. A similar fate would greet those advertising their beliefs via bumper stickers.
Certain congressmen and senators would be expelled and then arrested for sedition.
Most importantly there would be a total military mobilization, but this time conscription would function without deferments. It’s hard to have an anti-war movement when everyone is in uniform. America’s colleges would shut down because there would be no students. (This would have the positive effect of ending the poisoning of the minds of American youth by the mavens of socialism and political correctness.)

While it may make no difference which instrument we use to go to war, we have to establish ground rules. Unfortunately, thanks to a failure of foresight, we are operating under Vietnam Rules. Unless we change this, we are going to lose.