Friday, August 10, 2007

"War Czar": It "Makes Sense" to Consider Draft

In an interview broadcast today on NPR's All Things Considered, US Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said he shared the concerns of his fellow military officers that repeated and extended deployments of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are straining the military to the breaking point.

Gen. Lute, assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan (a.k.a. President Bush's "War Czar"), also said that from a military standpoint, it makes sense to consider reinstating the draft.

Ever since the "battle for Iraq" ended and the occupation began, it has become increasingly clear to me that our military forces are being severely strained. To very near the breaking point.

Re-enlistments are down. Recruiting is down. Recruiting standards (re. age, health, education level and even criminal history) are down. "National" Guardsmen are routinely deployed internationally. US Air Force airmen — e.g., pilots, loadmasters and other aircrew — are receiving ground combat training at Ft. Dix (an Army base), then being sent to help soldiers and Marines fight in Iraq. It seems like we're just barely covering our commitments in the Middle East.

Thus, I've long thought that they could very well reinstate the draft sometime in the next 3 to 5 years, in order to rebuild our military while maintaining (or further expanding) our force level in the Middle East.

But if the feces hits the blower before that — whether here or someplace else in the world — I think a new draft is a slam dunk. The president would probably be announcing it live on TV and radio within a month.

Thus it would behoove parents to start discussing this matter with their sons and daughters, so they can consider how they'll respond to Caesar's fraudulent claim on their lives.

2 comments:

J. and C. Matthews said...

Hi Frank,

Tremendous idea for a website. Our nation has invested itself in what is looking like perpetual war, and many Christians I know have not thought about or been taught the Biblical justifications for war. I look forward to your posts and the ensuing discussion.

To get to this post, the problem with the draft is with exemptions. Unless it wants an all-out revolt, the military would have to allow them, and they'll likely include college enrollment (just like Vietnam).

College students tend to be average or smarter than average. Given the military's IQ requirements, it wants enlistees that have average smarts or better. Thus it runs into a problem: how do you draft the kind of people you want if they can get an easy exemption by hiding out in college? Lately the military has been relaxing its standards a bit; it's been taking in heavier (in terms of weight) and dumber people. I mean that nicely. The mental aptitude requirements were recently lowered, but (if memory serves) they still aren't much lower than average IQ, which is around 100.

I'd do the heavy-lifting and post sources, but I'm lazy tonight. Just head to Steve Sailer's website and search for "military," "aptitude," "IQ," or similar terms and you'll get some great stuff.

Frank said...

Thanks for the comment, J&C. I hope you'll join in the discussion, and invite your friends and family to do so as well.

I'm working on a post that addresses your question re. exemptions. It'll be up shortly.

But the short answer is (I think): a citizen militia. No exemptions.

Of course, a militia wouldn't really be suitable for international messianism/interventionism ... but wasn't that exactly one of the Founders' points?