Return Of The Draft?

September 28, 2007

Did you hear what Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, White House deputy national decurity advisor told NPR this week? While Lute was singing the praises of an all-volunteer force, he also said it “makes sense to consider” a military draft, and that “This has always been an option on the table.”

And some people say the Iraq/Vientnam comparisons are unfair!

It’s my personal belief (hope?) that there isn’t a republican or democrat in office inclined to make a serious go at reinstating a military draft. I sincerely hope we learned our lesson from Vietnam. The force of teenage conscripts we sent into that particular meat grinder certainly was no match for the dedicated, “fight-for-your-life” mentality of the North Vietnamese. Any time you force a teenage farmboy or inner-city poor kid into battle against people who are not at all threatened by the loss of their own lives, you are at a serious disadvantage. Keep that in mind when you think about those suicide bombers in Iraq, too. Try as they might, even the volunteers can’t match the intensity of people who don’t mind putting a lit stick of dynamite up their own backsides.