Post by Bret Walker on Dec 5, 2003 10:07:20 GMT -5
Here is an interesting site which was brought to my attention by its webmaster. DraftResistance.org supports the idea that Selective Service (registering for the draft) is an outdated, outmoded and bad idea whose time has come. Their points are very sound; Selective Service is an insult to members of our all-volunteer armed forces. It basically says to them, yes, you are here to defend our country, but when you can't do your job alone, we'll force a bunch of people against their wills to help you out. As a veteran myself, I've never looked at Selective Service in this manner, but they do raise an interesting point. In addition, although not registering is "illegal," only 13 men out of the 3 million who failed to register have ever been prosecuted, and none in the past 20 years. Selective Service is a completely unnecessary excercize in futility; over 600 million dollars have been spent on the system since 1980, money that could have been better spent helping our veterans. And I say it's unnecessary because, as I pointed out to Scott in my email to him,
So why continue the farce that is the Draft when the IRR and the all-volunteer armed forces are doing the job just fine? Use that money we are spending now on programs that benefit veterans. Give something back to the men and women who served their country voluntarily and freely, and give up the notion that we may, in the future, need to force young men into active service.
Definitely check out this site. I only wish there were a way you could write your congressional representatives from the site (as you can from Millions4Roe.com). But I support its ideas and ideals wholeheartedly.
The thing is, since Viet Nam, there hasn't been a need for a draft, even though 18 year old males are still required to register. There hasn't been an actual draft since 1973. The main reason for this is that the armed forces now require an 8-year obligation, which means that when you enlist, you are tied to the armed forces for at least 8 years. For example, if you enlist for a three-year active duty term, when you get out in three years you are in what's called the "Individual Ready Reserve" or IRR for five years. That IRR is the pool that they draw from first in case of war. When I was in Saudi Arabia (My regular-Army component was mobilized), about 25% of the reservists that we served with over there were IRR soldiers. About 60% of the soldiers in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 1991 were reserve or national guard units. We regular-army soldiers were in the minority. And Desert Storm was an action that used over 500,000 soldiers, a pretty big action when you consider that Viet Nam only had about 100,000 troops in-country at any given time. Because of this, I really have my doubts as to whether a draft will ever be instituted again.
So why continue the farce that is the Draft when the IRR and the all-volunteer armed forces are doing the job just fine? Use that money we are spending now on programs that benefit veterans. Give something back to the men and women who served their country voluntarily and freely, and give up the notion that we may, in the future, need to force young men into active service.
Definitely check out this site. I only wish there were a way you could write your congressional representatives from the site (as you can from Millions4Roe.com). But I support its ideas and ideals wholeheartedly.
