Reader Christian Hurt calls to my attention the comments of Senator Hagel (R-NE) in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs, often a harbinger of policy initiatives to come (and especially when the author is someone who can make policy!):
“The US force structure should match the security and foreign policy commitments required for the next generation. That may require some form of mandatory national service. If in fact the United States is engaged in a generational war, then all of us should share the burdens, sacrifices, and costs of this national challenge.”
I am continually amazed at the naivety of those who pooh-pooh the prospects of a renewed draft. The writing is on the wall. The lunatic talk about "war without end" (or, as here, "generational war"), together with the reality that our global military presence can not be sustained with just a "volunteer" army, at least not in conjunction with military assaults on other nations, makes some kind of "national service" inevitable--unless we have a dramatic change in foreign policy.
So, to my Republican friends with boys in their early-to-mid teens, please remember that if you vote for Bush, you are also voting to send your children in to the next round of the global U.S. jihad. Don't do it!
UPDATE: Keith DeRose (Yale, Philosophy) points out correctly that, "With their 'stop loss policy,' they're already forcing people to stay on board after their service time is up. Whether or not Kerry was right in calling this a 'back door draft', it is coming close. But it's a 'draft' (or near-draft) that won't touch the sons of the wealthy, who never had to volunteer in the first place."
Recent Comments