Only in America.

The draft is morally wrong. Period. No one "owes" a portion of his life to the country he lives in, simply because he happens to have been born there. Further, not everyone agrees with every war, and should not be forced, at gunpoint, to fight against their beliefs, whether those beliefs are religious or secular. We are, allegedly, free people.

If a war is truly necessary, such as defending the country from invasion, it will not be necessary to draft soldiers; you will have the support of nearly the whole of the people. If, however, we are fighting a "police action" in a faraway land against a country which has no means of threatening the people of this country, then we should expect that some folks are not going to be too enthused about joining in the fun against their wishes.

This is supposed to be a free country, the freest ever. We are not even supposed to have a standing army, let alone the draft. The draft means more government with more power over your life, not less government with less power. Do you really want your sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters used as pawns by the government you spend so much time complaining about here? "Everyone should have to serve..." "Military service should be a requirement for citizenship..." If I didn't know better I would think I was reading V.I. Lenin's wish list. Why don't we stop compelling others to do what we think is right, and start trying to live free.

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"...the probability of the people in power being individuals who would dislike the possession and exercise of power is on a level with the probability that an extremely tender-hearted person would get the job of whipping-master in a slave plantation."
Prof. Frank H. Knight
 
Just to reiterate:

IMO, my duty to the family overrides any that the US or any other government might heap on me. To fight in order to protect yours is one thing...to be an expendable pawn to others is quite different. And folks who would go to jail for their beliefs are just the lucky and less persecuted versions of the many folks who went up to the stake for their beliefs or to KZ for their nationality...not smart or more honorable, just unlucky and tragic. My sympathies are mostly with those who got away, either by evasion or by making coercive ones eat lead.

I do, however, dislike politicians who send people to die after having avoided the same exact fate themselves.
 
We can ALL express our opinions, Just don't forget the ones who fought to give us that right!


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FREEDOM AIN'T FREE!



[This message has been edited by TDB4 (edited October 10, 1999).]
 
I believe what it boils down to is this:

1. The draft isnt Constitutional, just as a large standing army wasnt the intent of the Founders. I read the Constitution again, and I didnt see a draft (maybe I missed it...Im a paranoic imbecile, after all).

2. If the 2nd Amendment along with the Militia Act of 1792 were followed, we wouldnt have to draft people for active duty, and, like the Swiss, we would have our equipment (military grade) in our own homes.

3. The idea of a draft removes freedom from those drafted. It asserts the right of the government to make use of you as *it* sees fit. Your life would be forfeit to the state, upon its demand. Thats not what our Republic was founded for.

4. The last thing the Left wants is an army of hardened freemen...thats why they will continue to support the current crop of mercenary serfs who make up a growing portion of our armed forces. And, if they can, they will draft and use anyone as they see fit.

Thank God for Americas veterans. Without them we wouldnt be having this intellectual exercise :)

Just my .02 cents (in Confederate money)

G2
 
I have to weigh in with Ipecac and Grenadier2. My family has served in every war since the Civil War and I've been a Marine since 1991. I am prepared to go when the guns sound, and I'm in the infantry, so I'll in fact be where the bullets are flying.

I think the draft is pretty darn close to slavery, and I wouldn't care to serve with draftees, in peace time or war time. You get enough problems with the ones who volunteer. If fighting needs to be done, and isn't just for political posturing, there will be more than enough men who volunteer to do the job.

The draft says that Americans are just a bunch of fairies who wouldn't volunteer to protect their country in time of danger to the country. I don't think that's the case.

Jefferson and the founding fathers would plotz over the idea of having the huge standing military we have, nevermind the DRAFT!
 
I'm as big a Heinlein fan as you'll find, but the political system he proposed in Starship Troopers doesn't appeal to me. In ST Heinlein even had Major Reid, the History and Moral Philosophy instructor at the Officer's Candidate School, ask the cadets why the current political system of voting franchise being limited to discharged veterans, and his answer was "It works satisfactorily." I'm not sure that it actually would, human nature being what it is.

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"...the probability of the people in power being individuals who would dislike the possession and exercise of power is on a level with the probability that an extremely tender-hearted person would get the job of whipping-master in a slave plantation."
Prof. Frank H. Knight
 
8-USMC 3-USN 4-USA 1-USAF and a shotload of CSAs All Volanteres. My family. ----------------
FREEDOM AIN'T FREE!

[This message has been edited by TDB4 (edited October 12, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by TDB4 (edited October 12, 1999).]
 
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