When Ya' Get Drafted

Bush's military advisor, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, has said that it's worth considering the draft in regards to Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm only really shocked that this is the first time the draft has been brought up in public. The US is likely to be in those countries for years, at least according to the experts. A lot of people want them to leave. I don't, largely based on the age-old principle: "You broke it, you fucking bought it." Call me heartless.


Also, call me heartless again, but I actually feel more comfortable with the idea of "conscription" than I do with a "voluntary" system that largely draws from the bottom of the economic ladder. In my mother's neighborhood, there is a tremendous amount of support for the war. None of them are going, and none of their kids are going, but they all have the magnets on their cars. In the dessicated rust belt city where I work, conversely, lots of kids are going. It's not a video game or a sporting event there.


Since I'm heartless anyway, I'll admit that every time I've heard people talk about how "overtaxed" the US forces are, I've wondered when they would start talking about the draft. If the US isn't going to leave, and everyone is complaining that the current forces are "overtaxed", it would just make sense that there should be a draft. Look, I'm not happy at all with the situation in Iraq, and looking back, I wish they'd never gone there. But, they're there now, and it's never too late to start dealing with reality. Even in America.

Note: Okay, some of this is phrased a bit provocatively on purpose. I'll let you decide which parts.