I read an article a few years back that really made sense of it all. When a poll was conducted on Viet Nam vets that opposed the Iraq war everyone that opposed was drafted in the Viet Nam war. They were mostly uneducated minority's with little education, convicts and immigrant's. The ones who agreed with the Iraq war were also volunteers in the Viet Nam war. They had a much higher education and were very patriotic.

When you look at the Democrat party today clearly 60%+ are uneducated minority's, immigrants and if Hilary has her way felony convicts. Furthermore, who wants our military to fail? Harry Reid declared our loss and military a complete failure, Kerry called our troops similar to that of Genghis Kan.

The article went on to say that there were many Officers killed by friendly fire and that many unwilling draftee's were behind this.

Imagine a draftee for the fire department. A draftee would rather sit on the curb, watch the building and it's occupant's burn than lift a finger to help out if allowed. A volunteer would risk his own life, go in and save lives and try to put out the fire.

Today, drafting is a political ploy with no disregard for our safety.

As a Viet Nam vet and a veteran of BOTH the all volunteer services and a conscript military, I certainly agree that volunteers are preferable to draftees, but not invariably so - does anyone doubt the quality of the troops in WWI or WWII or Korea or, for that matter, the US Civil War? A truly FAIR draft (none of these deferments/alternative service arrangements) would theoretically allow the military to select qualified candidates and to exclude the "riff-raff". It was the rampant use and abuse of deferments during Viet Nam (a political ploy designed to ease resistance to an unpopular war) which made the draft a means of entry into the services for what were politely known as "Category 4's" (i.e., "riff-raff").

And it is the Viet Nam and post-Viet Nam experience which most argues FOR the return of the draft. Volunteer armed forces are an invitation to adventurism. You can go to war and not worry about securing popular support for the war if you have an all-volunteer force. I mean, they're just mercenaries, right? They volunteered, right? BUT, if Mr. and Mrs. America have to contemplate the possibility that THEIR little precious might have to do the dirty work and endure the dangers, you need a lot more compelling reasons to send in the troops. Chances are, as well, that we wouldn't have to fund any resultant war "off budget", either (the way the Iraq fiasco is being paid for), because the pocketbooks open a little wider when the flak jacket your tax dollars are buying is intended to keep your kid alive. Up-armored Hummvees? No problem, my tax cut can wait til Junior gets home...

And if you don't believe me, then ask yourself, if Barbara and Jenna were subject to the draft, would we be in Iraq right now?

THAT is one of the reasons why the Founding Fathers mistrusted a standing Army and put their faith in militias. Going to war is a lark if it isn't your kid getting on the troopship/airplane.

If you need numbers, the draft works. That used to be called cannon fodder.

Ary, I had a prof who said when someone says "clearly" or "it cannot be denied" right there is the weakest part of the argument. You make black and white statements and your dislike of Others is palpable. The idea that a draftee in a situation were all were had to serve would just sit around is not true to reality.

A draft makes sense to spread around the cost/sacrifice of defense. A national service requirement makes sense to me, with military being one of the options. And the rich and powerful and neurotic and so forth will find their way out, as they have since the Civil War. In Russia, during the War of 1812 against Napoleon, landowers would send off serfs or other's under their control "for a soldier." Sometimes the option was prison. A draft also makes sense to provide enough numbers for real emergencies. In this day, drafting the smarties including those who speak Arabic would make sense.