The United States has not had a draft since the end of the Vietnam War over 30 years ago. Now, with the War on Terror and the War in Iraq, there is once again talk of compulsory military service. Needless to say, many Americans are not excited about the prospect of serving in a war they don't support. Some officials, however, have begun steps that have many fearing another draft. While both the Pentagon and the White House deny claims of another draft, some aren't convinced.
Check out this video about the possibility of a draft:
Here is another one to check out:
A representative from New York supports the draft in this article:
What do you think? Should the US reinstate the draft?
20 comments:
I think that the Draft should not be reinstated. Its a person's own option if they want to put their life on the line for their coutnry. I know there's the whole honor for your country thing, but still a person should be able to choose whether or not they want to be taken away from their family, unwillingly.
What really surprised me was that a former military personel, a Korean War veteran, who was in the draft, and he is even for it again. I know that the U.S. has had to shoulder the burden for the War on Terror and the Iraqi war.
If the draft was reinstated then i think that many people would move to another country, or find ways to get out of it. When the attacks on September 11th occured, and people were worried about the draft being reinstated at that time. Many people were making noise like they would move to Canada or another country. Is that really what we want? Our citizens fleeing to other countries, because they didn't want to be drafted?
There is talk about the economy being bad and how Americans need to spend more money to boast the economy and all that. Wouldn't the draft hurt that, because you are taking out a lot of people from the American society. The draft is also interrupting future careers and dreams of the people because they are going away to war. I personally wouldn't want to be in the draft because I worked so hard on some of the things I am currently doing. To tell you the true I would move to Canada just to avoid the draft, because I don't want to be killed in war.
I am not anti-war, or anti-violence... when there is a need for war, then there will be a need for a draft. I will not participate in the draft unless I felt that having a draft would keep the fighting away from the united states. The draft is a terrible thing, but it exists because the majority of people(including myself) share the same opinion as darius here. college students cannot be drafted by the way, so if you are college material, you are excluded from the draft if you wish to be.
Obviously, all people of the previous comments are against the draft; I, on the other hand, am for it. Someday in the future, we will need the draft once again. We can't expect there to always be enough "volunteers" to reinforce dwindling numbers in the troops. Personally, I wouldn't want to be forced to join or even join out of my free will; but if I had to, I would take pride in serving my country and stand with my comrades. Shouldn't you take pride in serving your country, even if what your country is fighting for is something you don't necessarily agree with?
I don't think that the draft should be reinstated. I think in order for people to take pride in what they are doing they need to choose it. If someone told you that "hey you need to be a (insert disliked job of choice) now!" would you be proud of what you do? Would you want to get up and go to work every morning? I wouldn't. Especially with a job such as the military you should be able to choose if you want to risk your life or not. When you are torn from your family and taken away from everything you know would you be enthused? Yes, be proud of our country but don't force people to fight for it. What if you don't agree with the reason for the war? For example, the War on Terror not everyone feels we should be there, do you want those people fighting in your army? Do you want them possibly protecting your life if they don't care?
I realize that at one point there may be a need for soliders but there isn't one now. One day there may be a shortage on volunteers but we can cross that bridge when we get there.
Personally, i think that if a draft would be reinstated then we could get out of this war faster. we would have soldiers, but on the other hand i dont want to have one! when a person joins the Millary they are proud to serve our country! I agree with Tara when she said that" People take pride in what they do." its true. if i was dong something i didnt like then i would not want to get up every morning and do it!
Doesn't having the draft defeats the purpose of having freedom of choice that we have in this country. And yes, we have it because of our willing troops. Not because of ones that were forced to fight.
I think it all comes down to quality over quanity. If we have a lesser amount of people who are better trained, rather than a ton of poorly trained recuits we would do better.
Perhaps one of the most controversial topics of modern American politics is "the draft." Talked about as much as illegal immigration, and even global warming. My parents talk about the draft, and even my teachers. I believe drafts or conscription is uncalled for. Some of the reasons made, was that there may be need for a draft in the future, that it would end the "War in Iraq" quicker, and even balance the social class. However, the draft contradicts basic American ideals. In our countries birth, our grandest idea was that we should be able to live how we want. I think the effects of a draft, and the experiences of war, will climatically effect how someone lives their life. Even in the modern world, people express difficulty in changing in and out of the social system. This is a struggle our soldiers face. Especially nowadays, where a draft is so controversial, the social structure we have achieved could become on the verge to breakdown, or public riot. The choice is simple. A draft is not an option any longer, it has become so widely scarred by the public, that it would easily not be accepted. As started before, people would leave the country, or many soldiers would not have pride for their country. Besides, if a time comes where a draft may be ABSOLUTELY necessary, I think enough patriots will sign up for the military to protect the most important thing to them, the way they live.
After reading "All Quiet" and watching a Law & Order episode dealing with a crazy soldier, I do not want to be drafted! If soldiers who choose to go to Iraq come back with PTSD, what would happen to people who didn't choose to go? Not to mention, the "war" isn't popular, and Congress hasn't even declared war. But most importantly, I don't want to die!
Drafting to me seems a little like slavory. there's always talk about how we might have a draft and how it is going to be re-instated. If people are forced to do things they do not want to do, isn't it a little like slavery? We have so many soilders who wake up every morning and say "i love what i do" and those are the ones who keep our counrty motavated and ruunning helthy. If we drafted millions of men and boys who didn't want to, and didn't focus on training the ones who did want to as well as we are now, my thoughts are we would be in a bigger mess then we are now. I couldnt imagine what it owuld be like with a draft. And hopfully i never will.
While I certainly would not enjoy being a draftee if it is reinstated, there are definitely good points being made in support of the reinstatement. The draft would minimize the number of repeat mobilizations, which would in turn minimize the number of "crazy PTSD soldiers".
It seems that the argument against the reinstatement mainly consists of "I wouldn't want to fight if I didn't want to". I see this as reasonable response, I wouldn't want to either. However the supporting side has many better arguing points, and while they are feasible and understandable, most people, especially teens, simply will not agree with them
America is a land for freedom, as the first amendment allows freedom of choice to all American citizens. So no one should be forced to go to war. Even if our country needs troops, if no one in the country is willing to go, then our country will fall, and of course, it will be our fault. We will have chosen to be defenseless or uneffective. However, there are plenty of people who willingly join the military so that isn't really something to worry about. The draft should not be re-enstated. It's almost unconstitutional, if it isn't completely.
I think that there shouldn't be a draft. If people want to join the army then they will. If the U.S. has no more troops left and people don't want to join then, oh well. Of course, I dont think that there will be a need for another draft because alot more people seem to be wanting to join the army everyday;and the army is constantly recruiting more and more people. I don't believe that the U.S. should force people to join because. The country does say that every american has free will, but if you're forcing them to do something that some of them may not want to, where's the free will in that???
Answer: There is none
The United States of America is a hypocritcal dream. "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave". I'm in choir and I love singing, but honestly, everytime I sing that line I feel like a liar. I don't feel free. Not really. The government tells me what to do, how to it, and when. And if I don't, I might not go to jail, but I'll certainly end up poor. And here we are, a perfect example. If we really are "the home of the brave", wouldn't enough people have signed up for the war? And if the answer is no, then here comes the "land of the free" forcing their own citizens into a term of violence.
Veterans of Vietnam were mistreated when they arrived back home. Not many people agreed with the war, or the concept of war at all and therefore soldiers were basically the devil, at least of their beliefs. But not all soldiers have a choice. Who are we to send young men away to war?
Since I will never be drafted, I probably shouldn't feel so strongly about this. But I do. America is not all it's cracked up to be. It's a land of greed. Also I admit I dream of a world where there are no countries, no borders, no conflict. But I realize that in a world as disrupted as the one we live in, war is at times necessary. However, if you have to force innocent people into fighting for something, whether or not they believe in it, then all you're doing is playing chess. Playing a game with young men's lives. I believe life is a one-time chance. It's no person's or government's place to risk ANYONE'S life.
We are the "home of the brave". Many people go out to fight for their country multiple times and still more join all the time. The draft is unneccesary. Like Megan said earlier, it would be a little like slavery if there was a draft. We have soldiers, and that should be enough. If you don't know exactly how a draft works, here's a link: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/deploymentsconflicts/a/draftprocess.htm
Those who mention how America should be the idealized country "home of the brave, land of the free" are a hundred percent right. Citizens should be honored to serve a country that gives them so many rights, in fact they are. There are plenty of soldiers right now, so I don't believe the draft needs to be reinstated. Of course there will always be that thought in the back of our minds, “What if we had more soldiers. I wonder how much more we could accomplish. Should we reinstate the draft?" No, we should not. If people don't want to stand up and honor our country by taking part in the army/navy/marines/air force freely then we can't expect them to serve willingly with a draft. I think that in America the draft should not be reinstated unless absolutely necessary; which we are not at that point yet. And that Americans should have the choice whether they want our country to continue being a superior country, or would rather watch us slowly sink to the bottom.
In my opinion, I think the draft is unecessary. We are already one of the strongest military powers. As shown here: http://www.globalfirepower.com/ If we are already number 1, why should we reinstate the draft? The only time we need a draft is when we are in a total war. World War II was a total war. Operation Iraqi Freedom is not. Even if we had a draft, I believe the people should not have to take part in it. We should have the choice to serve a counrty or not.If someone did not believe in the war, why should they risk their lives to support it?
I hope the draft is never reinstated. I would like to think that our world will never be as bad as it was in the Vietnam War, but to be honest, it probably will. And this time, it'll probably be even worse with the advances in technology and new weapons. Especially since looking at the history of the world, everytime there is new advances in technology, that aid the war, the death toll seems to go up even more. As far as reinstating the draft, I don't think someone should ever be obligated to risk their life without a choice in the matter. I would hate to think of my friends and family going off to war without a choice but, if we don't have a draft, would we have enough soldiers? Would we have enough, who are willing to fight, to be able to fight what ever is coming? Would we be endangering our country and the world more by not having a draft because there wouldn't be enough to fight? I think joing the army, or Marines, is a thing of honor and takes mental and physical strength and bravery. I commend those who are willing to risk everything in order to help preserve our way of life. I think we should ask those serving currently what they think. WOuld they want to see the draft instated? Do they think it will be neccessary?
The phrase "history always repeats itself" was the first thing that came to my mind while I was reading these posts. Just like Mary said, it is up to the person if they want to defend our country. Why enlist young adults who have possibly already have a family? Think about it. If we reinstated the draft we would involve a couple million men. Of those, some probably have a family. It's not fair to them, or our country to force them to drop everything and risk their life. Besides, some people just aren't meant for combat. Usually when a person has seen horrible and brutal images in war, they become a completely different person. For example, in Iraq, outside of an American hospital (it was set up) was a little girl, just lying behind the gates fighting for her life. Two soldiers went to look at her and noticed her stomach was rather large. They took the little girl in and noted she was about two years old. The Iraqi soldiers had fed her gasoline (which caused her body to swell) and were going to light her on fire to use as a human bomb. That image has haunted my coworker's cousin ever since this event took place. One action like this can scare anyone off.
Back to the draft, it is unnecessary to reinstate it. If our country is really going to have to FORCE our own citizens to stand up for it, that is horrible. This means they probably do not believe in the cause they are fighting for. When this happens, usually the person will not put forth his/her best effort to succeed. And that's what the United States needs right now. 100% effort from everyone.
In my opinion the draft is a good thing but it’s very sad that we have to make citizens of the U.S. fight for their own country. To me I think that every American should have to serve at least two years in a branch of the military. Some people might say why make them fight if they don’t want to? Isn’t it our duty to keep our country free? America wasn’t built on people who were scared of fighting for what they believe in. If you think that you’re fighting for the wrong cause then get involved. Almost every American can complain about how are president is doing something wrong or how the war in Iraq is wrong but that’s it. I don’t think we have the right to complain if we are not doing anything to change things. America wouldn’t be a country if it wasn’t for each and every soldier that puts their life on the line, I think the least we can do is fight alongside these brave men and women. In a previous comment someone said we should have a choice to serve our country or not. That’s ridiculous if they don’t have the guts to fight for their own country then they can live somewhere else. The only reason America is one of the strongest countries today is because of our soldiers. I know that I’m going to serve my country the question is will you?
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