I came across a news story last week that I thought may be of interest for some.

Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) introduced legislation earlier this month as part of an effort to ensure a "shared sacrifice" among Americans in the event of a war.

The bill, HR 163, would require all male and female citizens and legal residents to serve in the armed forces at the age of 18. Those with health problems or conscientious objectors, who could fulfill the service requirement in another capacity, such as border patrol, would be excluded. Service would be paid and be for a period of two years.

I plan on leaving for BCT next August so hopefully this draft talk will stay away for a while. I would think, being an election year that no talk about the draft will take place until January. I would like to hear the question in a presidential debate though. Would you be willing to use the draft due to the need for more troops?

FYI...There have been bills to reinstate the draft many times in the last few decades. But this seems to be getting less attention and a little more support then usual.

Ask me again after Nov 2.

naw, id put my money on the fact that we wolnt go more than calling up irr soldiers. there are many reasons i would say that if ur interested. suffice to say its not gonna happen.

I know I just read somewhere that the draft bill was thrown out. I'll be back....time to do a little research.

It got shot down on Tuesday

that's what I thought

I sure hope we don't bring back the draft. We have enough trouble getting the volunteers to do their duty. If you ask me, Heinlein had the right idea, which is why I will never be president.

I've heard Donald Rumsfeld say "there will be no draft"

I've heard President Bush say "there will be no draft"

why do people still insist there will be a draft?

Because the same way Bush and Rumsfeld insisted there were weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq and there weren't any, that is what they are saying about this draft. You can't trust anybody now days, not even your president and that is very sad. They are saying there is no draft and people are saying there is. They have a sense of deceivement. After all, the main reason for going to Iraq was the WMD's, and not the liberation of the Iraqis. Why does the US not go after countries like CHina, that we know for a fact have WMD's? They test them all the time.

[quote:e0b4b40c93="villalobosr"] Why does the US not go after countries like CHina, that we know for a fact have WMD's? [/quote:e0b4b40c93]

Dude, you don't pull crap like that! For God's sake, they might actually use them! :shock:


:lol:

I think it would probably be necessary in the event of another large scale operation (like another Iraq or bigger). Stay tuned.

BTW, is anyone here a draftee or has served with one? I'm wondering what the cohesion would be like between draftees and volunteers.

[quote:8015c602ac="villalobosr"]Because the same way Bush and Rumsfeld insisted there were weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq and there weren't any, that is what they are saying about this draft. You can't trust anybody now days, not even your president and that is very sad. They are saying there is no draft and people are saying there is. They have a sense of deceivement. After all, the main reason for going to Iraq was the WMD's, and not the liberation of the Iraqis. Why does the US not go after countries like CHina, that we know for a fact have WMD's? They test them all the time.[/quote:8015c602ac]

You have to remember that a big part of military strategy is knowing when and how to fight your battles. Yes, we know that China has WMDs... we also know that they have roughly a third of the world's population in their country alone. You have to consider that Iraq posed more of a political threat than anything else. By virtue of there being a possibility of Saddam having WMDs it created instability in the region, and because the region plays a huge part in the global economy as well as socio-political matters, something had to be done.

China on the other hand is alot more complicated. China has one of the few conventional militaries that rival our own, not only in manpower, but in technology as well. As such, they're not only a regional military threat, like Iraq was, but rather, a global threat. They have ICBM capability that if push came to shove, I could see being employed. I see a very messy outcome out of a Chinese-American war, much messier than in Iraq. While victory against China is feasible, it would come at a great loss. Also, China poses less of an immediate threat to political stability than Iraq did. Saddam was alot more willing to invade neighboring countries in order to achieve his goals. China on the other hand doesn't want war any more than we do. They know that if they start some, they're gonna get some. They have alot more to lose than Iraq did.

Politics suck, but you have to remember that they do play an essential role in how we choose our battles.

If the gov't decides to reinstate the draft, all hell will break loose. The draftees will be disobeying direct orders. Homicide and suicide rates would go up within the military. Drug use in the military would be ridiculous. This all will come from snatching folks up at random and telling them that they have to do something that they are not willing to do.

[quote:496743fe10="villalobosr"]They are saying there is no draft and people are saying there is.[/quote:496743fe10]

And who exactly are "people"? who are these people who say there is a draft, and how do they know? What connection do these "people" to the Military?

At least I know that Bush and Rumsfeld have connections to the Military. These are the questions I ask when someone comes up to me and says "Hey, did you hear....."

Remember boys and girls, rumor control is everybody's job.

[quote:091a616412="regulator"]If the gov't decides to reinstate the draft, all hell will break loose. The draftees will be disobeying direct orders. Homicide and suicide rates would go up within the military. Drug use in the military would be ridiculous. This all will come from snatching folks up at random and telling them that they have to do something that they are not willing to do.[/quote:091a616412]

You really think so? I think the hard part will be getting people in. I can see large inner cities breaking out into massive riots. Normally those would be put down by the National Guard, but well... :lol:

Again, this is all hypothetical, but yeah, that's what I'm most afraid of, massive civil unrest. :?

[quote:d943b3bd00="cxl"][quote:d943b3bd00="regulator"]If the gov't decides to reinstate the draft, all hell will break loose. The draftees will be disobeying direct orders. Homicide and suicide rates would go up within the military. Drug use in the military would be ridiculous. This all will come from snatching folks up at random and telling them that they have to do something that they are not willing to do.[/quote:d943b3bd00]

You really think so? I think the hard part will be getting people in. I can see large inner cities breaking out into massive riots. Normally those would be put down by the National Guard, but well... :lol:

Again, this is all hypothetical, but yeah, that's what I'm most afraid of, massive civil unrest. :?[/quote:d943b3bd00]

I do. The hardest part is not getting them in. The gov't will just do like they did during the Vietnam-era. If the draftees don't show up for duty, then the MPs will show up to their homes and snatch them out. This is how my uncle ended up serving in Vietnam, they found him hiding under his bed at my Grandmother's (may God bless her soul) house. :lol: It's not like Canada will except the draft dodgers anymore (if the draft dodger could make it to Canada). The borders are now a lot tighter than they were in the 60's.

We have a hard enough job getting the volunteers to do their job. Now our task would be 5x as difficult with draftees. Although, I wouldn't mind the challenge. :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: