for all of you 18-23 yo out there, as the war in Iraq escalates and the need for soldiers becomes critical, what would you do if the draft was reinstated? would you go?
132848
i would.  my belief is if i didn't i would spitting on the graves of all those before me who went.  desserting the draft, because i don't agree with Bush politics, is essentially desserting my country.
615083
First off, I do hope that your husband comes back alive and well. Godbless him and you too. \n\nCalienstacie and to anyone else who think that was a stupid question, well guess what? That is not a stupid question. I think  that's just taking it the wrong way. Yeah, it's awful to see or know what could happen to our soldiers, but that question was not stupid question.\n\nI think people should think carefully about joining the military. Whatever military branch it maybe. And, if there willing to go to war(even a war which they don't exactly support or not at all), not complain and whine, and be proud of serving their country and their military, then yeah they should join the military.\n\nPeople should know they might be sent to war one day, whether it's in Afghanistan,Iraq, or any future war, and that is what they are going to get. End of story.\n\nLove my country and my soldiers. God Bless America. God Bless America allies.
14510
No. Reinstituting the Draft would be the fastest way for the leading political party (in this case Republicans) to lose the Hill, and the White House for years to come.  Next, the American people would be outraged, especially if the government's justification for it is to augment a war in which 'victory' was allegedly already obtained.  It would be disruptive to the economy (I can just imaginge Consumer Confidence after that announcement...) and the military has been publically saying for so long that it is not needed, that for them to renig now would collapse all faith and confidence the people have in the establishment.
501094
Interesting question. I have been monitoring this news pretty close since it has such a huge impact. I just returned from a 16 month deployment - and already there is talk about going back again. I guess if I wanted to spend this much time active I would have enlisted active. Of course it will have a huge impact on employment - and everything else for that matter. I think it is a form of backdoor draft. Most of the part time Soldies out there never intended to make a full-time commitment to this. We deployed once, did our job, and stood up to our commitment.\n\nTo answer your question though, yes I would attempt to fight this - right down to the wording of the US Code. I would tend to stir waves - get a legal interpretation of the Presidential Order and constitutional rights. In my opinion it is clearly abusive.
334695
I would increase the budget so Soldiers could go to schools (Airborne, Air Assault, Ranger, etc.), soldiers love schools and lately no one wants to give anyone up to go to school if it is not required for his job.\n\nLet people do what they want.  Too many branches (like infantry, MP, Armor) will not let anyone change branch to what they want but that same Soldiers time is up and they can get out, that's a good way to keep people!  Also for everyone who can't stand his job their is someone who wanted that job.  When they asked me what I wanted last year I said "If you can get me working with Iraqis I will do 2 years in Iraq" Well they sent me to Atlanta and now they can't pay people to go on these Iraqi training teams.  I think the only way to fix this is to set up an army message board so Soldiers can trade assignments when they are coming out.\n\nGet rid of all the useless slots in echelons above reality.\nMy current unit in Kuwait probably hurts the war effort by wasting manpower in a HQ building that does little if any real work and it counts as a deployed tour.  I would cut every sections personnel in half and move as much of the work back to the states as possible so at least people could be getting their stabilization while in this lame job.
386782
During the Vietnam war many college students moved to Canada to avoid the draft.  In the unlikely event that the USA institutes the draft again, I think this will happen again. \n\nThe US government is well aware of this, but know that it very difficult to restrict the movement of Free Americans.\n\nAnyway, due to the unpopularity of the War in Iraq, I think the chances of the draft coming up again are next to zero.  Government try hard to avoid suicide.
551058
kreevich, are you mad???  If the draft is reestablished there will be a national service option instead of a military one.  Do you actually believe this?\n\nWhy don't you tell this to all of the maimed Vietnam Veterans and all of the families who lost loved ones during that war.\n\nIn past wars with drafts, most so called Conscientious Objectors served as medics and other "non-combat" frontline personnel.  And do you think our current enemy will respect red cross armbands on our military men and women?  To them the red cross would be a distinguishable firing target!\n\n\nAnyway, I don't think restarting the draft is such a bad idea.  The youth of this country has gotten too soft.  Besides, many liberals have often stated that we are the only "civilized" country that has the death penalty, basically comparing the US to Europe.  Well, many European countries do have a draft, so we are yet again out of step with our "civilized" European allies.  Some of these countries are:  Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and others.
624038
'fraid so. our brave american 'heros' will be slaughtered & for what? iraq was better off before we went in. saddams crimes are out of our juristiction. iraq had nothing to do with 911 nor did they have wmd. what they did have was oil that they were wanting to sell on the open market. rather than have the competition, its easier to bs the usa into stealing their oil & selling it to ourselves at inflated prices. so what if we sacrifice a few hundred thousand lives, profits are up. theyll probly reinstate the draft.
572489
As a soldier, I am getting sick of not seeing my spouse. We have been seperated for 14 months. We both serve - him in Afghanistan and myself to Iraq. That being said, being in Iraq and seeing it first hand, I know that we cannot pull troops out of Iraq until stability is reached and the Iraqi government can sustain themselves. Unfortunately this will take years.
597096
This is the beginning of the drawdown. It will take a few years at least. Unlike Vietnam, we have never increased our numbers of troops in-country. We have made enormous strides but we need more Iraqis trained as soldiers and police before we can beging a major pull-out.
387495
I enjoyed my time as a Marine, I miss it and would love to go back but I have a family and cannot leave them for extended periods. If you join the US military you will be gone for extended periods and you will go to war. Since you do not have a spouse the development of your children could be compromised. I would tell you to stay home and raise your kids.
357814
I have served in the Marine Corps through both afghanistan and iraq. I will tell you honestly, We had to go there. We had to fight. There are two points that the military is instructed to carry out 1)Defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic. 2) Defend those who cannot defend themselves. Now if your asking if we should still be there, I believe we should be there as an advisor role only. We should no longer be patroling those roads and streets that I had to when the wars originally started. Its been over 3 years since the start of Iraq and almost 5 since the start of Afghanistan. We should be pulling out faster and letting them decide how they wish to live just as we did after the revolutionary war.
415364
1st off less is more, I'm not sure if YOU understand what your question was,  and to quote you "Currently, there are more than enough people enlisting in the armed forces nationwide to sustain our military needs." where did you get your information? If we stay in middle of this civil war, we will not have enough to protect what we need to protect .I think you are afraid of being drafted.
408220
The way this draft would be set up would be for men AND women. It's not necessarily all combat jobs, especially if you claim conscientious objector status.\n\nThe likelihood of it happening are slim to none. It would be political suicide. People would riot in the streets. History has shown us that conscription is not the way.\n\nAnd history would repeat itself.
344369
U GO GUY!\nTHANKS!!!!\nI was a draftee, 1971, US Army.\nLottery #9\n\n&#92;My problem is I should have stayed in, I'd be retired and working on a second career by now.
419756
Draft reinstating was not on the ballot....so no I did not vote for it, nor did republicans.  If it was on the ballot, then I would vote NO...I don't believe that a vote is needed for this action anyway, if the government finds the need to reinstate the draft, they will, this is why boys are required to fill out draft cards at age 18.  The reason the government, no matter which party is hesitant to do this is because it would be very unpopular come the next election.
540762
It would depend on how draft laws are written. But the draft has about as much chance of being reinstated as Michael Richards has opening at the Apollo Theater. In the past only sons weren't exempt, but a sole surviving son was. That was the premise for Saving Private Ryan.