Hello Vietnam....

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: 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.

Come to think of it, I'd try and get into the Navy ROTC program at Rice. That way I don't have to apply all over again. I think I may have passed that deadline, though. ROTC is a good program and I considered it. You get to be an officer.

If I did Navy I would attempt to become an aviator. I would love to learn how to fly at uncle Sam's expense. I'm a bit tall for a fighter, but I would try to get into one anyway. I know its dangerous, landing a fighter on a carrier, but I can deal with that. At least if i screw up it will be my own fault, and not some damn rock with a bomb under it. The reason Iraq spooks me is how random the attacks and injuries are. I guess war is like that.

What do you think colleges do about registered students who get drafted? Will I be welcome back in two years or so (presuming I survive) or will I have to re-apply?.

 

[oniq]

Maybe if I get drafted and run away I can become President one day!!!! :beer:!

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: jumpr

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.

You don't have to leave the country, sheesh. Get a liberal psychologist to write you off as mentally unstable. Easy as that. I knew someone who did that in Vietnam. Only cost him $50.

 

[abracadabra1]

Originally posted by: LordJezo
We should sue to force women to get drafted too.

agreed...why should their lives not be affected by a conflict that the whole country would be fighting (presumably the reasoning for reinstating a draft...even though that is not the intention of the Senator)

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Citrix
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

New enlistments numbers are fine and holding steady. In fact, there was a surge of new enlistments after 9/11. I haven't heard anything about re-enlistment numbers.

There won't be a draft. The only time you'll need to start worrying about a draft is when you hear military generals talk of a need for a draft. The only people talking draft right now are politicians with an agenda such as Charlie Rangel.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Anubis
ill shoot myself in the foot if this happens

Aw, come on, just get yourself a good disease. I did

 

[TGregg]

Originally posted by: Amused
It's never going to happen. The Defense Dept. and Pentagon have both stated there is no need for a draft and have vigorously opposed any call for one.

Exactly. It's a political ploy, designed to make people more afraid of any military action. Ain't gonna happen. No way.