Talk of a New Military Draft: Same Players, Same Dancers and Same Old Clichés

Steve Yuhas

Once again there is talk in the halls of high schools and colleges that there is a new draft coming to town – the airwaves are covered with so-called military “experts” who declare that the current all volunteer force is insufficient and because of recent recruiting difficulties by the Army and Marine Corps that there is nothing other than a draft that can fix the shortfall. The problem with the analysis by some liberal politicians who say that minorities are fighting for America and that the draft will open the eyes of the rich to war, nobody is seriously considering it.

Sure, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to begin drafting men into the services again, but even he voted against his own bill and it failed almost unanimously (402-2). College and high school students are saying to the press that they believe that President Bush will begin drafting them, but in keeping with public education form – none of them that are asked actually know that it is Congress, not the President, that authorizes a draft (why should facts ever get in the way of a good school debate).

The head of the Selective Service has been asked over and over again whether or not the agency would be prepared to conscript eligible young men into the service and each time William Chatfield, the chief of the Selective Service System, or his predecessor says “yes” the headline is not “Selective Service Doing their Job” it is “Selective Service Ready for Draft.” The only time the Selective Service System should be in the news is if their answer was no – they were not ready to draft men into service because that would make America less safe and our enemies more apt to strike.

It is good that the world knows that we could call up 13.5 million men aged 18-25 in a matter of a month.

Recruiting is a difficult task in a good economy; it is also made more difficult for the combat branches of the military (the Army and Marine Corps) because even a public high school student can figure out that more casualties in defense of freedom come from the combat arms than the Air Force or Navy. Recruiting is made even more difficult by schools that bar recruiters from campus, colleges that ban them from their grounds (meanwhile peaceniks are perfectly acceptable and money is paid for Michael Moore to speak to students) and the mainstream media makes life in the military out to be something akin to life in a gulag.

For people talking about the draft, again, there are a few things you should know: first, Congress has to approve a draft and there is nothing in Congress and no shortage of troops that cannot be overcome that Congress would ever make a decision to draft people. Second, there are approximately 1.5 million active duty forces in the American military and many hundreds of thousands more in the reserve components and National Guard – there are about 130,000 deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; simple math should tell you that even if there is a recruiting shortfall, there are millions of troops waiting in the wings if they’re needed in the theater.

Important to note is that attacks against our military and coalition forces in Iraq are going down. Yes, every death is a tragedy and America mourns our lost servicemen, but considering that our military broke the backs of two dictatorships and has assisted two fledging democracies in the heart of the Middle East install democratically elected governments – the deaths of our servicemen is a value to our nation and the peace of the world.

People talking about a draft should be reminded, consistently, that those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan were volunteers and all of them knew that they could be called upon to serve in a combat zone – some write and speak as if combat was foreign to their psyche, but one would have to do a psychiatric study to figure out why they thought they were being trained for war if there was no chance they would ever fight one?

The United States military is made up of the finest group of men and women in the world and it is that way because it is an all volunteer force where 99.9% act according to the traditions that make our military the most compassionate and humane in the world. If captured by any nation ask any terrorist or foe if they would rather be captured and imprisoned by the United States or any other country. Chances are and the evidence is clear – surrendering to the USA is something that is not lost on our adversaries as even in the most recent conflict in Iraq people began surrendering before fighting even began.

Military service is a wonderful thing and I’m proud to count myself among the veterans of the United States who gave part of their life to a cause greater than me. If military recruiters receive the access to high school and college campuses and if things continue to go well in Iraq and Afghanistan there will be no shortage of troops and offering additional incentives for service is hardly a sacrifice for the nation considering that Pell Grants and free financial aid is given to people who do nothing to serve their nation (unless you count protesting against it). But that is the beauty of America.

People in America have a choice of either going to college right out of high school while collecting free money from the government confiscated from the taxes of men and women in uniform while doing nothing to deserve it or giving a little bit of their life to the military: earning money for college after you serve, saving money while you are in and putting structure in a sometimes unstructured life. There is nothing wrong with that, but to those who continue to demand that recruiters stop recruiting and that bonuses and GI Bills stop being increased – the nation could, indeed, face exactly what fear mongers and anti-Bush anti-military folks already believe is going to happen: a draft.

America doesn’t need a draft because there are enough patriotic Americans who have already come forward and answered the call of their country to serve and while they protect our shores and kill the terrorists overseas it is with great honor that they watch on as spoiled college students reaping the benefits of freedom protest against their mission and a draft that is only in their minds.

Have you noticed the anti-war anti-draft people of today? They’re the same ones as protested and burned their draft cards during Vietnam – they’re older now and they bring their kids and grandkids to the rallies, but the message, placards and faces are all the same. I guess having a fictitious draft to protest brings back old times and what better way to share the memories of Vietnam than to bring out old signs and banners and just change the name of the war.

I wonder when they will get bored?

Steve Yuhas is a columnist and radio talk show host on KOGO AM 600 out of San Diego. He may be reached at steve@steveyuhas.com or www.steveyuhas.com