Are you For or Against a US draft? ?

Question

I am For a draft. Right now we have two mercenary armies in Iraq: the largely poor and uneducated soldiers in the US military and private military like Blackwater. Private forces actually outnumber US military soldiers now (see http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/04/nation/na-private4).

This is quite dangerous. Remember, the empire of Rome started to decline when it started using mercenary armies. I hope there is a draft; then, like in Vietnam, more people will protest and stop the war because the poor won't be fighting it anymore. How can you be against this? I can see how "conservatives" or neocons might be against this because they're afraid of what I just talked about: the "Vietnam Syndrome" or people fighting against large scale wars where there are large casualties.

Answer 1

im a conservative and i believe that are wars that we need and wars that we dont need, the Iraq war is a war that we need.

i don't think a draft is necessary at all. yeah maybe we do have some mercenaries but thats just so the anti-war liberals dont get too pissed about all the soldiers we have in iraq.

there should never be a draft unless, and god forbid, we have another world war

Answer 2

I think there should be a MANDATORY 2 yr service for all when they turn 18.  It might straighten out some of these kids before they go wrong or are already on the wrong track.  It'll straighten you out for sure.

Answer 3

Your right but remember the Romans' mercenaries were actually their enemies. Plus most of them were forced to fight. That means Rome fell because of a draft, and that's why I'm against drafting  

Answer 4

Are you For or Against a US draft?

Simple answer for the question: Against..

Volunteer Military Service works out MUCH better, a draftee could say "s***w you"; performance and standards of a drafted military force would be lacking that of a volunteer force.

No matter your percieved reasons of why people join, I suggest YOU do a poll of current and former military persnnel to find out that Patriotism and Selfless dedication to our nation is why most join the military.  It wasn't the prospect of "the steady job" - the pay sucked for Jr NCOs in relation to the responsibility and authority.

I would sooner trust my life, family, future and fortune to one of those "poor, uneducated" souls in the US Military than to anyone else.  

Answer 5

are you crazy their is no need for a Draft.. Wait so let me get this straight i am getting thumbs downs cause i am against Forcing people to be in the army.. and i am against putting in a draft

Answer 6

Against, if I am extremely against something... why should i have to DIE for it?

I have a wife and child.  I would renounce my US citizenship RIGHT THEN if they did reinstate it.

The US has given me nothing but high taxes and a extremely expensive Passport.  I enjoy more freedom in asia than i did in the US.

Answer 7

sure a draft

answer mine

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 8

I thing everyone should serve two years after high school. it may make better person out of them.

Answer 9

yeah i mean US civilians need their freedom, we soldiers keep your freedom, look i have spilled my own blood in iraq keeping your freedom and if the rest of our troops spill their blood we would be too injured to fight or KIA(killed in action). if that happens we will not have enough troops to restore/keep your freedom.  

Answer 10

Would somebody call Arty and drop one on this coward.

Answer 11

I agree with your reasoning but I still do not like the idea of reinstating the draft

but I get exactly what you mean

Answer 12

Hey dipshit.  Our military is selected from the top 50% of our population.

Your premiss is totally wrong.  Get a clue and stop being such a p***y.  Just join up and find out what it really is all about.

Answer 13

NO, i am pro military but i think it would be more detrimental both socially and economically.

i wrote a paper on it in history class this year

Reinstating the draft in the United States military would not only be unsuccessful in our modern day, but it would actually be detrimental to our society not only politically, but also economically, socially and of course, militarily. It would be the beginning of our downward spiral as a powerhouse nation if we reestablished the use of the draft. The effects would be overwhelming for things such as government spending, public opinion, political support and patriotism. A significant amount of Americans would turn their backs on our government and the approval ratings would be at an all time low.

Economically, our country is unstable enough at the moment, without adding the financial affects of training and supplying hundreds of thousands of more soldiers. It has been estimated that around 2,923,966 total people comprised our military personnel in 2005 and that number continues to rise day after day (Pike). The current War in Iraq already contributes to millions of dollars a year in costs on things such as weapons, ammunition, food, training, vehicles, fuel, equipment and pay for each of the soldiers. Now add on the cost for that for around 100,000 more troops. The costs would be ridiculously off the charts.

The amount of money being spent would be unbelievable if we reinstated the draft, and it would be completely unnecessary to spend that much money. In April 2005, it was estimated that around $511.2 billion tax dollars were spent on the military for the fiscal year of 2004 (National Priorities Project). This was without a draft and it was a staggering figure. If the U.S. went back to a draft system, taxes would increase for everyone, including the working class, the average, everyday people who work hard to support themselves and their family.

With this increase in spending in the military, the national debt would soar. The hole that we as a country are in already seems everlasting. It does not need to be complimented by rising spending by the military to train and equip soldiers that we don’t need to have.

Reinstating the draft would have major social effects, not only between members of the same class in society, but it would also shake up the balance between different classes. Notoriously in the past, the wealthy members of American society have been able to “dodge” the draft or pay their way out of serving in the military (Bender 179). If it happened in the past it would definitely happen again. This would result in chaos and fear by the public of being selected, because they would be aware that if they couldn’t find away around the draft they would most likely be selected.

Look back in history, and make a generalization about our armed forces. It could be said that the lower class, less “book smart” young men and women have more commonly joined the military, because it has been one of their only options. Yes, this is an unfair generalization to make, but for argument’s sake, just consider it. For those of them who manage a way to get accepted to a college with financial aid and pursue an education, drafting them would be a complete demolition of their academic dreams.

A draft in modern society would pull people out of a field of work that they have been preparing diligently for, for years on end and putting them into a completely unknown and challenging field. Take for example a graphic design student straight out of high school. If he or she were drafted, all that hard work and the years of courses would all go to waste and this person would be back to square one in the military. Taking people from civilian jobs that don’t transfer over to the military world would be a complete waste of natural and acquired talent.

Along with the drastic social changes would be a surplus of political issues that would need to be addressed and would constitute a major change in our current system. The most obvious result of the draft being reinstated would be the incredible decrease in the amount of governmental support that the citizens of America would display. Sure, there are people who support the idea of a draft, but there is a significant number more of those who are against it. This is most likely because not everyone is cut out to serve in the military, or they feel that it infringes on their inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Along with feeling would be protests and even riots that could result, which could become very dangerous for the government and its members. This could even bring about an impeachment of the president who allows it to be reinstated, and our government would be in shambles. As was earlier mentioned, costs would be dangerously high and our national budget would be higher than we could afford to have it. This is definitely not a desirable outcome when considering what is best for our people and our co

Answer 14

We don't have mercenary armies because our shortage of troops. We have plenty of troops. Mercenary armies is honestly a way to do things that our "military" isn't technically allowed to do trying to calm commotion about the war. Here is a deployment update from

August 13:

Total Reserve/Guard Active: 106,904

Change from Last Week: -850

Total Activated Members:

Army Natl. Guard & Reserve: 80,778

Navy Reserve: 5,799

Air Natl. Guard & AF Reserve: 11,491

Marine Corps Reserve: 8,096

Coast Guard Reserve: 740

Now if you really felt like me proving to you that we're not even close to a draft I will go pull numbers of troops from each branch. I know the Army has 750,00 troops. Do I agree with the draft absolutely but only if it's needed.

Answer 15

Actuly your wrong we have plentry of troops we have 550000 active duty army and 220000 active duty marines with a total military of over 1.6 millino active duty troops and 600000 reserve troops....the problem is these private armies go in and the mass media doesn't report on them if one of these private soldgers dies noone carers the media doesn't turn and eye but if a troops dies than the media freakes out so thats the thing....

Answer 16

Where to start.

1. A draft, only conscripts enough people, to meet the manning levels of the military, set by Congress.

So since we already meet the manning levels set by Congress with volunteers, a draft would be meaningless.

Even during Vietnam, less than 6 percent of the draft eligible men, were actually drafted.

2. Poor and uneducated military ??

I don't know where you heard that, but it is not true.

The poor are actually UNDER represented in the military.

IE: the percentage of recruits from poor families, is lower than the percentage of poor families in the US.

The enlisted military is mostly solid middle class, the officer corps is solidly upper middle class and above.

The educational level of members of the military, are far above the average educational level of thier peers in the civilian world.

3. The private armies.

The number given, are for all contractors, that includes cooks, truck drivers, construction, etc

70 percent of those are iraqi citizens

And almost all, do not work for the US government.

Companies like Backwater have fewer than 1,500 employees in iraq.

Backwater, the largest, only has 800 employees in iraq.

And they do not work for the military, they work for the State Department augmenting State Dept diplomatic security agents.

When did guards become mercenaries ?

Mercenaries carry out offensive combat operations.

You will find , no mercenaries in iraq.

I provided two different links, regarding the income level of recruits and thier educational level.