Poll: If the Draft is Reinstituted....

[LadyEagle]

Poll:

 

[Joseph_Botwinick]

Are you now spewing the scare tactics of the Democrats? This poll is nothing but a Democrat political dirty trick and not even worthy of a response. The only people talking about a draft are the fear mongerers in the Democrat party: Hollings and Reinghold. There is no draft coming. The president has already made clear that his plan is to re-assign the troops and he is in the process of doing that as we speak, pulling them out of Europe.

Joseph Botwinick

 

[dianetavegia]

Yep... agree with Joseph.

 

[dianetavegia]

My husband was an Army Officer during Viet Nam. Our oldest son, Scott (33), fought in Desert Storm. Our son, Jon (28) who is on inactive reserve, served four years during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our daughter Erin (29) was National Guard. My father served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict and Cold War... We lost a nephew (21)to a horrible death a year ago November in Iraq.

There's such a thing as GRATITUDE and I raised my children to be thankful they were born in America.

 

[LadyEagle]

Not "spewing" anything.

I'm thankful I was born in America, too. I'm thankful my child and grandchildren are born in America. There are a lot of military veterans in my family.

What you are saying is if Americans do not support the President's war in Iraq, they are not patriots.

Supporting our troops does not necessarily mean supporting the war in Iraq.

Perhaps you have a different definition of "patriotism" than others do.

 

[dianetavegia]

No I am not, LadyEagle. Do not put words in my mouth.

What I AM saying is that we need to stop being a country of 'takers' and 'victims' and give back out of GRATITUDE.

Like JFK said... 'Ask not what your country can do for YOU. Ask what You can do for your country.'

 

[LadyEagle]

Sorry, I fail to see the connection between the war in Iraq and gratitude. But maybe it's just me.

Unless you are saying we will never have a draft again because so many are signing up out of gratitude?

 

[dianetavegia]

This is an MTV 'scare tactic'. http://www.rockthevote.com/draft/

I support the draft.

 

[The Galatian]

There's already a back door draft, trying to force people to stay in past their discharge dates.

But that's only good for a number of years. What are they going to do when that runs out?

Quit and go home?

I don't think so.

 

[Salty]

Originally posted by The Galatian:
There's already a back door draft, trying to force people to stay in past their discharge dates.

No one who has been dischared has been forced to stay in/come back to active duty. Contary to popular thinking a man does not recieve a DISCHARGE upon leaving active duty. An enlisted member recvieves a DD 214 "SEPERATION FROM ACTIVE SERVICE". Upon initial enlistment, the terms are (normally) 3 years active, 4 years active reserve, and 2 years inactive reserve. Therefore anyone comming in the "back door" is still in the "back yard". At the end of his eight year commitment a man recieves his "HONARABLE DISCHARGE".

 

[Dragoon68]

God bless you for your comments! You understand what sacrifice means and why, as dreadful as it may be, it is so necessary. Thanks to those you mentioned and all the others who've served and are serving our nation when needed without regard for self.

Patrick

Originally posted by dianetavegia:
My husband was an Army Officer during Viet Nam. Our oldest son, Scott (33), fought in Desert Storm. Our son, Jon (28) who is on inactive reserve, served four years during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our daughter Erin (29) was National Guard. My father served in the Navy during the Korean Conflict and Cold War... We lost a nephew (21)to a horrible death a year ago November in Iraq.

There's such a thing as GRATITUDE and I raised my children to be thankful they were born in America.

 

[Dragoon68]

That's correct! We all had a minimum six year obligation - and some even more - and could be called back if the nation needed us.

By the way, even though a draft isn't being planned and isn't foreseen, it is still possible. We don't know what threats await our nation in the future. If it becomes needed to protect our nation then its what should be done! Those who are called, like millions before, should step up and go, their families should make sure they do, and we should all pray that God will watch over them.

Patrick

Originally posted by SALTCITYBAPTIST:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by The Galatian:
There's already a back door draft, trying to force people to stay in past their discharge dates.

No one who has been dischared has been forced to stay in/come back to active duty. Contary to popular thinking a man does not recieve a DISCHARGE upon leaving active duty. An enlisted member recvieves a DD 214 "SEPERATION FROM ACTIVE SERVICE". Upon initial enlistment, the terms are (normally) 3 years active, 4 years active reserve, and 2 years inactive reserve. Therefore anyone comming in the "back door" is still in the "back yard". At the end of his eight year commitment a man recieves his "HONARABLE DISCHARGE". </font>[/QUOTE]

 

[Dragoon68]

Gratitude is due all who serve - whether volunteer or draftee - and, we as a nation, should be grateful for those who are serving right now in Iraq just like we should have been for those serving 30 to 40 years ago in Viet Nam. Iraq, to those in the midst of it, is a war - a real war - in which we're engaged right now.

The fools protesting in the streets of the USA didn't mean squat to me when I was a young soldier fighting a war in Viet Nam my country sent me there to fight. Those fools, whether well intentioned or not, did nothing to help me nor the 13 million others that served there. They could talk about peace all they wanted but it didn't help bring about peace. They could claim they were the ones who really supported us but they were hurting us badly. That much is the same today.

We also owe our gratitude to the families of those who serve - especially to those who are killed or wounded - because they've given up their loved ones for the benefit of us and ours.

Ideally service to the nation should be selfless - without desire for recognition or reward - but a nation without gratitude will not find many willing to serve it. We desperately need to work at this!

Patrick

Originally posted by LadyEagle:
Sorry, I fail to see the connection between the war in Iraq and gratitude. But maybe it's just me.

Unless you are saying we will never have a draft again because so many are signing up out of gratitude?

 

[KenH]

I oppose a draft. After all, involuntary servitude was outlawed by the 13th amendment:

Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

 

[LadyEagle]

Hackworth: Uncle Sam Will Soon Want Your Kids
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 4, 2004

Recently, when John Kerry brought up the possibility of a return to the draft, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld was quick to respond that Kerry was full of it.

But my take is that Kerry is right on the mark. Not only because Rummy has been flat wrong on every major military call regarding Iraq, but because this is a war that won't be won by smart weapons or the sledgehammer firepower we see every night on the tube.

Right now - with both our regular and Reserve soldiers stretched beyond the breaking point - our all-volunteer force is tapping out. If our overseas troop commitments continue at the present rate or climb higher, there won't be enough Army and Marine grunts to do the job. And thin, overworked units, from Special Forces teams to infantry battalions, lose fights.

Clearly, this war against worldwide, hardcore Islamic believers will be a massive military marathon, the longest and most far-flung in our country's history. By Christmas, more troops could be needed not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but wherever the radical Islamic movement is growing stronger, from the Horn of Africa to Morocco, Kenya, Somalia, Yemen and across Europe - remember Spain?! - to Asia.

Accordingly, we need to bring our ground-fighting and support units to about the strength they were before the Soviet Union imploded, especially since the proper ratio of counterinsurgent-to-insurgent in places like the Middle East should be around 15 to 1. You don't have to be a Ph.D. in military personnel to conclude we need more boots on the ground.

Most of our warriors - who are mainly from blue-collar families from Small Town, USA - have few political connections and few conduits though which they can effectively sound off. So when they get screwed over by a desperate Pentagon's makeshift policies - such as the "Stop Loss" program that's holding over large numbers of our servicemen and -women well beyond their contractually agreed-upon terms of enlistment, or the widespread calling up of out-of-shape, ill-trained citizen soldiers from the Individual Ready Reserve - these "volunteers" salute, suck it up and lay their lives on the line.

But like elephants, they won't forget that they are "backdoor draftees," as Kerry and John McCain call them. Which means that when their hitches are up, they won't be rushing to re-enlist. And they're also warning their younger brothers, sisters and pals to stay away from recruiting stations.

-----------------------

Columnist and former soldier David H. Hackworth is the author of The Price of Honor, and contributes weekly commentary to DefenseWatch. For more information, visit Colonel Hackworth's homepage or the DefenseWatch Website. Sign up for the free weekly Defending America column at his Website, or send mail to P.O. Box 11179, Greenwich, CT 06831.

Military dot com

 

[Major B]

I don't always agree with Hack..


Let me tell you how to insure a draft. Elect Kerry. The regulars are liable to bail out in numbers sufficient to require one. Eight years of Clinton soured them on THAT party. That is why the military voter surveys indicate 78% for Bush and 18% for Kerry.

Now, back to my life...

 

[The Galatian]

Let me tell you how to insure a draft. Elect Kerry. The regulars are liable to bail out in numbers sufficient to require one. Eight years of Clinton soured them on THAT party. That is why the military voter surveys indicate 78% for Bush and 18% for Kerry.

I don't remember Clinton having to put in a "stop loss" order to keep people from leaving. And times were good when he was president, so there wasn't an economic incentive to stay in.

Of course, Clinton invested a lot of money in making life better on bases for troops and their dependents.

And he didn't try to cut their combat or separation pay.

And that showed up in retention figures. When troops in Iraq start refusing orders, you know that the average guy is fed up.

Even in Somalia, that didn't happen to Clinton.

I don't always agree with Hack, either, but he's usually right. Hack doesn't forget what it was like to be a grunt. That's a rare quality among officers.

 

[LadyEagle]

If Kerry is elected, it's the end of the world as we know it, anyway.

 

[Pennsylvania Jim]

It's despicable to claim that those who oppose the war in Iraq are somehow "takers" rather than "givers". Those making the claim have no idea what has (or has not) been given or sacrificed by the families of those who oppose the war.

 

[LadyEagle]

Really.