Posted on 07/13/2024 9:19:38 AM PDT by hardspunned
After decades of becoming increasingly rare, the military draft is back in the debate.
Israel—which has long had mandatory conscription—is currently debating whether or not to lengthen its service for reservists as a result of its ongoing war against Hamas and Hezbollah, and it may soon expand the draft to the currently exempted ultra-Orthodox population following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling voiding the exemption last month. In May, Ukraine expanded its draft in order to replenish its forces as it continues to fight off the Russian invasion. Russia has similarly broadened its compulsory military service in response to mounting casualties in Ukraine. In the Baltic states, Latvia reintroduced the draft in 2023 following Russia’s attack on Ukraine; Lithuania reintroduced it in 2015 in response to Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine; Estonia never abolished it. And halfway across the world, Taiwan recently lengthened its conscription period in response to increasingly menacing threats from China.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
Do you support a draft?
“””””Look at Vietnam. The government was able to conscript 2 million soldiers for the war.””””””
The draft didn’t change much for the Vietnam war. According to the Selective Service System, from 1954 through 1963 (peacetime) they drafted 1,327,343 men for military service, from 1964 through 1973, they drafted 1,840,650 men.
The biggest problem with reinstituting the draft is that given the size of our country, universal service is financially and practically impossible. Which means that The burden of unwanted military service would fall on a small percentage of the population.
In effect, a draft amounts to nothing more than an opportunity to underpay those who choose military service. Those who do not serve get away without having to pay the additional taxes required to pay a volunteer Force.
And there is no way in hell I'd ever want to serve beside a bunch of draftees, particularly considering how values have deteriorated massively since the 1970s. The people we would be drafting would not be just the pacifistic hippies of the '60s and '70s, but openly anti-American Antifa and radical leftists. That is a recipe for military disaster.
The answer is to eliminate DEI and other leftist indoctrination from the military, and restored to a place where parents can send their children to become better Americans. And increase the pay. Do that, and there will be plenty of volunteers once again.
People need to watch that speech by Ike. He warned us.
Oh look it’s time for the annual “the draft is coming back” story. No it isn’t. It’s a 3rd rail. It would destroy a politicians career to push for it. And the military doesn’t want it anyway. So no. Not happening.
It won’t work this time. I’ll be cheering them on as they burn their Draft Cards.
It’s literally the definition of slavery. Strip away the emotions and it’s simply involuntary servitude.
When it’s time for another of their elective wars, they will wave the flag and demand you be a soldier. It never occurs to them to be a capitalist and pay a wage high enough to attract soldiers. Pay a Blackwater wage and you’ll be able to pick and choose all you need.
But they never wave the flag in front of the CEO of Lockheed Martin and tell him his patriotic duty is to forgo his 23 million dollar salary and accept the 200k of a 4 star General for the duration.
Then we are treated to stern lectures about capitalism.
What made this draft different is the fact that was an open lottery. Some folks had high numbers and some folks were practically told to start packing.
The Military Industrial Complex loves the draft.
I was in the lottery, easily within the first 20 and it was still just the draft with some modification which they do from time to time, like guys with kids, college, age, etc.
” “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.””
The 13th Amendment could not be more clear. One of the reasons it stopped after Vietnam and did not continue into peacetime was that cases were headed to the court that is sure to reverse the Wilson era sophistry.
Wilson started the draft for WWI. His reasoning in that fevered era was that the entire nation had volunteered thought their representatives when they declared war on Germany. And that he was not drafting, he was merely “selecting” form a giant pool of volunteers.
It’s very unconstitutional and would not survive today.
Go to 8:27 for the MIC quote.
The year I would have been drafted was the last year selective service actually had the lottery. I think it was ‘75. My draft number would have been 8.
And I'd agree.
Everyone talking about an impending draft fails to realize that today's U.S. military does not possess the tools or skillset to train, discipline, or lead malcontent, angry conscripts who don't want to be there.
Our entire senior enlisted leadership were volunteers who came up through the ranks when the rules were simple. Follow orders or get kicked out. They didn't need to use any sort of corporal punishment to keep service members in line. They just sent them to NJP where they were either busted down in rank (losing money) or processed out for separation.
Imagine ordering some conscript gang-banger to go fix a multi-million dollar aircraft only to be met with, "FU sarge! You do it! I didn't sign up for this!"
They have no tools or skills to discipline this form of insubordination, unless we intend on building a whole bunch of new brigs to confine defiant draftees, --and then what was the point of drafting them in the first place if only to lock them up in Leavenworth?
To build a military comprised of conscripts today would be a herculean task that nobody currently serving would even know how to do.
I have an eighteen year old grandson. He has a severe gluten allergy and as of now would be exempt. If not, I’d shoot him in the foot myself before I’d let him be marched off as globalist cannon fodder.
No, they hate it. They wind up with a ton of people who don’t want to be there, cause discipline problems, and get out as soon as they can causing all that training time and money to be wasted.
I will, thanks. I’ve seen it numerous times but will do so again.
Excellent post.
In Nam we sent them to LBJ (Long Bien Jail).
Prior to reimposition of the draft, there will be an incident, possibly a false flag, that will rile up Americans. Imagine what would have happened after 9/11 if Dubya had brought back the draft. No one would have objected.
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