by L G Hoel

Created on: March 25, 2009   Last Updated: April 19, 2010

It is probably only a matter of time before a military draft will have to return. Politicians have refused to consider bringing back the draft because they know it would be political suicide for the party that brings back the draft. Military leaders have recently said, 'it isn't necessary.' America needs a strong military and a strong economy to remain a world leader. The survival of the country will have to involve sacrifice from ALL people. The draft and the economy are going to have to be out on the front burner and everybody will have to help stir the pot to keep the nation strong.

When the draft ended in 1973 the military planners and some dreamers decided all the country would need for our future national defense would be a high tech military. They didn't consider the future need for very many boots on the ground. They could use shock and awe to end any military campaign quickly and easily without putting many troops in harms way. This was a great strategy in their new war manual, long range war without using many troops. They learned early on in Iraq that it wasn't going to always work as they had planned. Shocked and awe didn't last long in Iraq. Many troops on the ground had to start being sent in soon after the victory speech. Over 4000 American troops have died and thousands have been crippled for life while the war still isn't over after six years.

Afghanistan is another war where troops on the ground is the only thing that will help keep the enemy in check. The soldiers on the ground again have an ever changing enemy. One day the tribal leaders will take payments for their loyalty to the US and the next day have their fighters kill US or UN soldiers. The war planning of the last decade has almost made bringing back the draft an impossibility. The people are fed up with sending our troops to fight for corporate freedom in far off lands. Our freedom and national security better be the only factor for putting future troops into harms way.

The return of the military draft will also be influenced by future military budget requirements. To maintain the present number of military members the carrot of high pay has been dangled in front of many young people. The times of young people learning about service to country has been replaced by service for big bucks and education benefits. That will be very hard to turn around to a new era that involves serving because of patriotism. A reason given today for a smaller military is that it costs too much to train each new soldier. The military might have to quit outsourcing how it operates and get those costs back down. If new soldiers pull KP, meals in the mess hall will not be $10.00 a plate. That would only be a starting point on the outsourcing.

When the military was run like it was supposed to be,  they always took care of all of their needs without outsourcing to private enterprise. Today everything that the military needs for daily existence is outsourced to some politicians friends to turn big profits from that endless supply of military budget money. The spiraling out of control military budgeting is an other part of the national budget that will have to be revisited in our rapidly declining economy.

'Uncle Sam Wants You' draft posters will have to go back into print. We will need posters for the military draft and also for many other areas where service to neighborhood and country are needed. What your country can do for you has been abused by far too many people for a long time. There now has to be a new mind-set by everyone. What can I do for my countries survival?

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