Special contributor Jennifer Reynolds suggests that 2008 US Presidential candidate Ron Paul may be the only hope of avoiding a draft. The subject of a draft came into play this week. A top U.S. military officer in charge of co-ordinating the U.S. war effort in Iraq said yesterday that it makes sense to consider a return of the draft to meet the U.S. military's needs. Lieutenant-General Douglas Lute, said the all-volunteer military is serving "exceedingly well" and the administration has not decided a draft is needed.
But in an interview with National Public Radio, he said, "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it, and I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table."
Does that sound scary? Do you think it is an over reaction?
General Lute, the new War Czar, announced today, August 10, 2007:
"Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday."I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."
Ron Paul warned us all of this possibility back in November but it never made the headlines. In fact, I am sure most of you never even knew he said it. Once again, Ron Paul has proved to be the most prescient candidate running for President. More importantly, he wants to protect your children and if you are under thirty: he wants to protect your LIFE. Here is what Dr. Paul wrote on November 27, 2006:
"Once again the possibility of reinstating a military draft is being discussed in Washington, and while the idea seems remote it is not unthinkable. Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, soon to be a powerful committee chair, has openly called for reinstating the Selective Service System. Retired Army General Barry McCaffrey claims that our ground forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq are stretched far too thin, and desperately need reinforcements. Meanwhile, other political and military leaders suggest that several hundred thousand additional troops might be needed simply to restore some semblance of order in Iraq. We are nearing the point where a choice will have to be made: either decrease our troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan significantly, or produce thousands of new military recruits quickly. So a discussion of military conscription is not purely academic.
Yet the Department of Defense remains steadfastly opposed to a draft. A Pentagon report stated that draft registration could be eliminated "with no effect on military mobilization and no measurable effect on military recruitment." Most military experts believe a draft would actually impair military readiness, despite the increase in raw manpower, because of training and morale problems.
So why is the idea of a draft even considered? One answer is that our military forces are spread far too thin, engaged in conflicts around the globe that are none of our business. With hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in literally hundreds of foreign nations, we simply don't have enough soldiers to invade and occupy every country labeled a threat or deemed ripe for regime change. Given the choice, many in Congress would rather draft more young bodies than rethink our role as world policeman and bring some of our troops home.
Military needs aside, some politicians simply love the thought of mandatory service to the federal government. The political right favors sending young people to fight in aggressive wars like Iraq. The political left longs to send young people into harm's way to save the world in places like Darfur. But both sides share the same belief that citizens should serve the needs of the state-- a belief our founders clearly rejected in the Declaration of Independence.
To many politicians, the American government is America. This is why, on a crude level, the draft appeals to patriotic fervor. Compulsory national service, whether in the form of military conscription or make-work programs like AmeriCorps, still sells on Capitol Hill. Conscription is wrongly associated with patriotism, when really it represents collectivism and involuntary servitude.
I believe wholeheartedly that an all-volunteer military is not only sufficient for national defense, but also preferable. It is time to abolish the Selective Service System and resign military conscription to the dustbin of American history. Five hundred million dollars have been wasted on Selective Service since 1979, money that could have been returned to taxpayers or spent to improve the lives of our nation's veterans.
Ronald Reagan said it best: "The most fundamental objection to draft registration is moral." The notion of involuntary servitude, in whatever form, is simply incompatible with a free society."
To the students reading this out there: If you are old enough to vote, vote for Ron Paul. To the parents of children under 30, beat your kids to the polls!!! To the rest of the country: WAKE UP!!!!!! Politics may be boring but it is VITAL that you know what is going on. I just barely caught this message from Douglas Lute on a ten second mention on a major news network. Your very lives are now at stake.
This is no longer a time in history that you can stay asleep and let others dictate who will be your choice for President. You must pay attention now. Learn about Ron Paul. He has been warning all of you about this for almost a year. Ron Paul is and has always been AGAINST THE DRAFT. Please go to that link. Read the articles.
Ron Paul will protect your children and if you are of draft age, he will protect you too. It is just too bad that 16 year olds cannot vote, because this is the most important Presidential election in their lives as well. Keep in mind, women serve in the military too. It is very possible a draft would include women as well as men. Or should I say girls as well as boys. At 18, you should be worrying about what to wear to the prom, not whether you will be taken against your will and put in a country where people are shooting at you.
Ok, so the draft is bad, but why should I support Ron Paul? Because he has written article upon article against the draft and wrote that we need to abolish the Selective Service Service. You can trust that people will behave in the future the way they have behaved in the past.
On a positive note, Ron Paul strongly exceeded expectations this weekend in the non-binding Iowa Straw Poll. Mitt Romney was the expected winner due to the fact that he literally bussed Iowans to Ames from all over the state and paid the purchase price for every single supporter. Tickets cost $35 each. Romney had also spent nearly a month canvassing the state and so it was no surprise that he won. But Ron Paul proved to his critics that he could turn Internet support into real votes. The mainstream media had him polling around one or two percent, so imagine everyone's surprise when Ron Paul tripled that figure and took 9% of the votes. Dr. Paul had only been campaigning in Iowa for the past week due to his heavy schedule in Congress.
In a surprising twist of events, Ron Paul supporters proved to be a little prescient too. The day before the Straw Poll they sought an injunction to stop the event over the use of Diebold Election Systems machines that the group claimed to have fundamental weaknesses and insisted that paper backup ballots be used as well. The injunction was not granted, but it is a good thing they had the back-up ballots because a few of the machines did fail and the paper ballots had to counted by hand delaying the results for hours. It proves, it is always prudent to stay vigilant over the democratic process.
Back to the real issue at hand. It is great that Ron Paul did so well in the Straw Poll, but our very lives are on the line. This weekend I could find five newscasters who talked about a story about a baby pig who fell out of truck onto the highway, but the fact that the draft is being reconsidered deserved only a ten second mention. Has the world gone insane? Now, more than ever, Ron Paul's supporters are needed not just to get their man elected, but to protect us all from conscription. The good news is they just may be able to do it. I checked a month or two ago and Ron Paul had around 16,000 members in http://Meetup.com a site that gets people together of like interests to promote or discuss a cause. As of right now he has 32,632 members in 698 groups. I am sure that number will change by the time you click on it.
If we continue this war we will need more troops and they will need to be drafted. Ron Paul is the only Republican who has promised to end this war now. And unlike many leading Democrats, Ron Paul will end it now and not leave a soldier behind.
Poster Comment:
And in other news today, the Pentagon announced that there was no consideration - none, nada, zero - of a draft and that War Czar Lute's ill considered remarks on NPR were an example of an old geezer talking through his hat and letting the cat out of the bag...