THE DRAFT
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James Joyner | Thursday, November 20, 2003 |
John Hawkins notes that there is once again talk about the need for resurrecting the military draft in some circles. He notes that this won’t happen simply because it would be incredibly unpopular politically.
Even aside from the politics, the fact of the matter is that a draft is a horribly bad idea. We have an elite, professional military. You can’t sustain one of those with people who don’t want to be there and who will turn around and leave after 18 months, or whatever the commitment is. Indeed, most (all?) of the remaining modern militaries have turned away from conscription over the last couple of decades.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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The pro-draft movement is typically pushed by the Left so they would have something to protest.
If a volunteer soldiers dies in the line of duty (like cops do every month) then there is nothing the Left can really moan about since the young soldier was died doing something he believed in. If it were a draftee who really wanted to be home playing video games while others guaranteed his security, then the Left would have a "cause" to get people all upset about, have card burning rallies and pretend its the late 60s again.
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