In case you missed it: the D-word looms eerily

[netmouse]

Jim posts about President Bush's new war adviser saying in an interview on NPR that he thinks we should certainly consider re-instating the draft.

In case anyone's wondering, I would be, uh, against that. I think any conflict where an insufficient number of our youngsters (and other healthy people) are willing to go in service is a conflict we shouldn't be involved in. That's aside from the whole question of whether or not there are better approaches to conflict than fighting, much of the time.

Comments

[nicegeek.livejournal.com]

I think it would be illuminating to see numbers for voluntary vs. involuntary enlistment during the times when the draft has been in force, and correlate them to public support levels for the war. Has a draft really been necessary for important wars (post-Pearl Harbor, for example), or has it only been needed to support wars that the public didn't want in the first place? If the latter, then Anne has a good point - the correct answer is not to have a draft, but to only enter wars when you have the support of the public.