The Draft?

Several times I have discussed the military draft at the local bar with a guy who was in the service about the same time as me. He always starts these things. I drink to forget.

My friend wants compulsory military service for all people. I try to interject practical considerations such as how we will house, feed, and arm all these new arrivals to the military forces. My friend, who has always had a few too many when this discussion begins, doesn’t care about that. He believes compulsory service would be a good character builder for younger adults. Killing somebody most likely will change someone’s character. Being killed will end someone’s character issues.

Policy makers and military leaders universally agree that a new rotation policy for troops in Iraq is needed if we are to continue our extended military adventure. A new draft of the fair citizens of the United States does not get discussed much. Pay raises for our service men and women so as to attract new recruits doesn’t get discussed much either. The poverty line for service families seems just fine in the minds of many of the good citizens of this fair country.

I am agnostic on the draft issue. All I know is that if the foreign policy of the country is to engage in preemptive wars around the globe, the military must find the bodies to fight those wars from somewhere. Some people are already on their third tour of duty in Iraq. It seems the only two options are coercion or financial incentives.

A return to a draft should not be like the shameful draft of the Sixties Vietnam era. We need something a little more equitable. How might that work?

Recruits would be selected by random lottery drawing. Everyone of military age would be required to sign up for the lottery. I mean everyone: man, woman, brave, coward, rich, or poor. If someone is a blind paraplegic, they must still sign up for the lottery. There is always the chance they might be cured by the time their number comes up.

The only deferment allowed would be a medical deferment. Everyone selected in the draft must report to their induction physical. A doctor’s excuse would not suffice to get a person out of the physical. The induction physical would determine who was able to endure military duty.

Again, there would be no deferments. It would not matter if someone’s induction day was the same day as the their final exams of their final senior semester in college. People would need to hand their induction notices to their professors and hope for some makeup exams down the road.

That would be it. Able bodies would be harvested from the fields of humanity like so much wheat or corn. The virtue of the scheme is its simplicity, fairness, and equity. Nothing is more fair than chance. It happens to all.

Welcome to the wonderful world of eternal preemptive war. Just remember doing right has no end while there are evil doers in the world.