Hello Vietnam....

[Geekbabe]

Well on the plus side a draft would make these forums quiter,lol,though the keyboard warriors would be posting on their PDA's I'm sure.

 

[Pepsi90919]

as far as i can see this only affects americans...? the title is misleading

 

[Mallow]

I'm in professional school so hopefully it won't affect me :/

 

[dquan97]

good thing I'm leaving in July for basic with the AF

 

[Mean MrMustard]

Originally posted by: JediJeb
I just love how so many people love the freedoms they have, (including the freedom to post their opinions right here without fear of being dragged off to prison if the say something the government doesnt like) and yet they are so opposed to even consider taking a stand and maybe fighting for them. The word may be FREEDOM but is sure doesn't come free, in fact it is one of the most costly things anyone of us has and yet we really do underappreciate it.

One of my best friends is from mainland China and can not even think of going home to see his family because he would be immediately thrown into prison because he was involved in the Tiananmen Square protests trying to get freedom for the people of his country. Now a days it seems freedom is worthless to those who have it, but it is priceless to those who don't.

But they can sure tells where we can and can't say what we want. I have a problem with that.

Explain to us why going over and fighting in Iraq is protecting our freedoms? Sadly, today the military is a tool of politicians.

 

[Queasy]

From Today's Neal Boortz

DO YOU FEEL A DRAFT?

There's talk of reinstituting the military draft in Washington. Charles Rangel has been pushing the idea for a long time now. Rangel's push isn't tied to recruitment levels. Reports show that military recruitment isn't suffering because of the war. Rangel's problem is not how many are volunteering to serve, it's who is volunteering to serve. Rangel didn't like the fact that most of the volunteers come from lower and middle income American families. It's an interesting concept, isn't it? In effect Rangel is saying that volunteerism is OK, just so long as the right people volunteer. If the people that we really want to volunteer don't volunteer then we'll have to consider forcing them to volunteer.

This seems also to be the attitude adopted by Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel. Hagel is also talking about reinstituting the draft. The reason? Again ... the right people aren't volunteering.

Do we need a draft? No. Recruitment levels are high enough to meet current demand. There has been no significant decline in military recruitment since the start of the action in Iraq. In fact, recruitment went up after the 9/11 attacks.

Our politicians in Washington should worry more about making America a country that men and women would be willing to defend, and to worry less about ways to force people into military service. People will fight for a country that protects and defends their rights to life and liberty, and their right to use their talents and their work ethic to pursue happiness and a comfortable lifestyle. People will be less willing to put their lives on the line to defend a system where the fruits of their labor are seized to empower politicians by rewarding laziness.

In effect, we already have a draft in America. About one-half of the working men and women in this country are forced to work the first three months out of every year for the benefit of others. They work these first three months of every year and then surrender all that they have earned during that time so that it can be transferred by politicians to people who have abandoned all or much of the responsibility for their own lives, including their responsibility to provide for their own food, shelter and clothing; to provide for the care and education of their children, and to make the decisions necessary to provide for their eventual retirement.

Rangel and Hagel .. among others ... are upset that more young men and women from upper income families aren't joining the military. They're saying that these upper income families aren't carrying their share of the load. There are many different ways to carry the burden of defending America. You can do it by serving in the military, or you can do it by turning over the fruits of your labors in private sector to fund the military. While it may be true that many of the volunteers who serve in the enlisted ranks of our armed forces come from middle and lower income families, it is also true that almost the entire burden for funding the military comes from those in upper income brackets. I don't hear any of these leftist politicians saying that we must find a way to spread the burden of funding this war to lower and middle income Americans.

The way to attract more men and women to military service is to establish a program of veterans benefits that greatly reward those who volunteer. It also might be a good idea to pay some attention to veterans hospitals while we're at it.

 

[gistech1978]

im giong to be 26 this year.
but if i get called up. hmmm.

make a pass at the CO?
*wink wink*

 

[skace]

Originally posted by: Queasy
From Today's Neal Boortz
There are many different ways to carry the burden of defending America.

Agreed.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: brigden
Suddenly Canada doesn't look so bad, does it, Yanks?

Any draft dodger, especially one that flees the country, deserves a bullet in the head. Period.

 

[JulesMaximus]

:music:Oh Canada, oh Canada...:music:

Oh wait, I'm 37...never mind.

 

[Atlantean]

it does not affect me at all and I am 21.

 

[halik]

hmmm i'd go if i get called upon,
i like warm places with a lotta sand ...

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: brigden
Suddenly Canada doesn't look so bad, does it, Yanks?

Canada's ability to project power is farcical such that it's not even worth mentioning. Canada finds security in staying off other countries' radar (a luxury that a super-power almost by definition can't have), and by being next to the strongest military in the world. In its present state Canada couldn't fight its way out of a wet paper bag with holes in it.

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: TerryMathews
Draft will never happen. For one thing, the military can no longer afford to draft and pay thousands of E-1s thanks to inflation. (It's been a while since I've looked at a housing and expenditure chart) per soldier, you're talking on the order of $25k/yr gross pay outside a combat zone, another couple of grand for lodging and food. Then there's the bit the gov't has to chip into CHAMPUS/Tricare (health insurance) and the soldier's retirement (it is a career after all...). So let's round it up to $35k/yr/soldier. Drafting 200,000 people into the military at the E-1 pay grade would amount to $7 billion dollars per year. This, of course, does not account for all other necessary supplies and the cost of construction for lodging and support facilities for these extra 200,000 conscripts.

Cliffs notes: Our military wouldn't know what to do with an extra 100,000 troops, no place to house them and no money to pay them.

7 billion dollars is nothing to the american government. California Alone has $22.1 Billion in debt. Please, we would have the money to house, place, and pay them for the rest of their lives. Now, where this money actually comes from is a different story.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Won't happen.

If it does, I'd find a way out of it.

 

[OutHouse]

I started a thread about the possibility of a draft last year before we invaded Iraq.

If something doesnt change you can pretty much accept it.

Re-enlistment #'s are down + new enlistment #'s are down + increased need for more soldiers = draft

 

[chrisms]

Originally posted by: Staley8
We don't need the draft and I doubt we ever will. We have enough people who volunteer for the military or sign up so they can get money and/or college paid for. We will never have to fight a war that requires tens of thousands of soldiers b/c of the technology available to us and the amount of destruction that can be caused by a small powerfully armed force.

The number of U.S. soldiers in Iraq has been at about 115,000 to 135,000. Factor in troops needed here at home, those in Afghanistan, Korea, Japan, Germany, etc. and you'll see that the military is stretched thin.

 

[fyleow]

Originally posted by: DaWhim
I am not a citizen yet

It doesn't matter if you are a citizen or not, you still have to register for SSS and you can be drafted.

 

[abracadabra1]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: Hardcore
It won't, the upper middleclass will get out of the draft because they would be going to college.

College doesn't get you out of the draft anymore.
http://www.sss.gov/

Indeed, it does not.

 

[abracadabra1]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: brigden
Suddenly Canada doesn't look so bad, does it, Yanks?

Why should I fear the draft? I live here. I take advantage of the freedoms this military provides. If the draft is re-instated and I am called I will proudly serve to the best of my ability. While I think that this senator's reasoning is flawed, I have nothing against the draft itself.

ZV

As a member of the military and a proud citizen of this country I'm thankful someone else feels a duty to defend the freedoms they cherish if and when they are called.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: dartworth

Originally posted by: brigden
Suddenly Canada doesn't look so bad, does it, Yanks?

I'd rather die than move to that shithole...

Fvck you.

 

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: brigden
Suddenly Canada doesn't look so bad, does it, Yanks?

Any draft dodger, especially one that flees the country, deserves a bullet in the head. Period.

I have no problem with someone fleeing the draft. Hell, I sure wouldn't want to be fighting next to someone in Iraq (if a draft did, in fact, occur) whose heart was in the wrong place.

However, if a draft dodger tries to re-enter the U.S. after the draft is rescinded, they should be exiled for life. Once you're out, you're out. There's no coming back to enjoy America's freedoms if you refuse to fight for the country that gave you so much.

 

[LordMorpheus]

If the draft is reinstated and my buddies and I get a low number, we are going down to the US Navy recruitment office and enlisting for a few years. Good experience, I'll get in shape, see the world, and not get my balls blown off by a backpack full of gunpowder.

I'd like to edit this and say that if the navy wasn't taking recruits, and the air force wasn't either, I would go. I don't like the idea of fighting a war against an enemy that blends in with the civilian population, and I would rather take less dangerous service (read, navy or airforce), but if it was army or draft dodge, I would go army.

I don't support the war in Iraq, Bush told us WMD's, Chemical weapons, Osama and Hussein were good buddies. Those were his three major reasons he told the public, all of which turned out to be wrong and/or lies. That said, I think Hussein was a jackhole and should be deposed. And I think that Iraq is such a mess now (it was more peaceful under Hussein than it is now. People had more freedom. Now if you collaborate with the US you get shot by insurgents, and if you help the insurgents you run the risk of getting nailed by the US) that we have a responsibility to restore order and peace, and hopefully a stable and good government. If we need more troops to do that, I wouldn't want to go and I would look for alternative service (navy/air force) but if I did get drafted, I would go to basic, do my best to learn everything anyone has to teach me (it might save my life) and go to iraq and pray I don't step on a mine made from a coffee-can and rusted nails.

Furthermore, one of the main points democracy has in its favor is that it allows people to have different opinions, but it also allows those same people to act in unison (the minority usually is ruled by the majority). The government system has worked in the past and even if I'm in the minority on this one, I feel that I need to support my government because I believe in the system that elected (don't start whining about how Gore was elected) that government and as an American I have a responsibility not to act as if I live in a system of anarcy (which is what the US would be if all of us felt free to samper off to Canada (which will NOT protect you from the draft -- try mexico or Cuba instead).

Well, that was long winded.

the long and short is this: No, I don't want to go to Iraq. If it is likely that I will be drafted, I'm joining the Navy or Airforce (preferably Navy).

If I do get drafted, its off to basic training and then Iraq for me.

I'm 18. I graduate high school in a month. I have been admitted to Rice University for next fall. I don't feel ready to go join the army. I don't want to. I think I've got a pretty nice future and a draft would completely disrupt it. I have thought long and hard about this, and the above is what I have come up with.

One thing that bothers me:

Anandtecher: "Draft dodgers deserve to be shot. Haha, I turn 26 in a day, have fun dying for my freedom boys!"

 

[Gulzakar]

26 on May 13th...I'm feelin pretty otay

On top of that, I really fail to see how my freedom is being defended by blowing up the middle east...seems like we're just pissing them off even more.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
If the draft is reinstated and my buddies and I get a low number, we are going down to the US Navy recruitment office and enlisting for a few years. Good experience, I'll get in shape, see the world, and not get my balls blown off by a backpack full of gunpowder.

I'd like to edit this and say that if the navy wasn't taking recruits, and the air force wasn't either, I would go. I don't like the idea of fighting a war against an enemy that blends in with the civilian population, and I would rather take less dangerous service (read, navy or airforce), but if it was army or draft dodge, I would go army.

I don't support the war in Iraq, Bush told us WMD's, Chemical weapons, Osama and Hussein were good buddies. Those were his three major reasons he told the public, all of which turned out to be wrong and/or lies. That said, I think Hussein was a jackhole and should be deposed. And I think that Iraq is such a mess now (it was more peaceful under Hussein than it is now. People had more freedom. Now if you collaborate with the US you get shot by insurgents, and if you help the insurgents you run the risk of getting nailed by the US) that we have a responsibility to restore order and peace, and hopefully a stable and good government. If we need more troops to do that, I wouldn't want to go and I would look for alternative service (navy/air force) but if I did get drafted, I would go to basic, do my best to learn everything anyone has to teach me (it might save my life) and go to iraq and pray I don't step on a mine made from a coffee-can and rusted nails.

Furthermore, one of the main points democracy has in its favor is that it allows people to have different opinions, but it also allows those same people to act in unison (the minority usually is ruled by the majority). The government system has worked in the past and even if I'm in the minority on this one, I feel that I need to support my government because I believe in the system that elected (don't start whining about how Gore was elected) that government and as an American I have a responsibility not to act as if I live in a system of anarcy (which is what the US would be if all of us felt free to samper off to Canada (which will NOT protect you from the draft -- try mexico or Cuba instead).

Well, that was long winded.

the long and short is this: No, I don't want to go to Iraq. If it is likely that I will be drafted, I'm joining the Navy or Airforce (preferably Navy).

If I do get drafted, its off to basic training and then Iraq for me.

I'm 18. I graduate high school in a month. I have been admitted to Rice University for next fall. I don't feel ready to go join the army. I don't want to. I think I've got a pretty nice future and a draft would completely disrupt it. I have thought long and hard about this, and the above is what I have come up with.

One thing that bothers me:

Anandtecher: "Draft dodgers deserve to be shot. Haha, I turn 26 in a day, have fun dying for my freedom boys!"

I agree with your sentiments about the draft, I would go if called, but I'd to air force.