Wow! This is the kind of thinking that we really need to push back against:
1. The state militia system, an emergency reserve of amateur soldiers, is unequipped to deal with full-time warfighting capability.
2. The newly privatized, "professional" army needs these emergency soldiers because it is not able to - or does not want to - function effectively without them.
3. We must keep the privatized army and subvert or scrap the citizen/soldier ideal that actually worked for national defense.
This should enable the nation to more effectively transfer wealth to private sector defense firms by shifting the costs to sustain the actual defense of the country to the states, turning the National Defense budget into a cash cow for firms who will never need to stand in harms way.

The active Army will never allow the Guard or Reserves to be a cost-effective, combat-ready force: they don't want the competition. I learned this after serving 25 years in Guard, Reserve and on active duty and hoping to perhaps make a difference with my puny efforts. The Army reserve components will always be shortchanged on equipment and training opportunities. The final gateway to success (that will always stay closed) is that the senior leadership of the reserve components, especially the Guard, is too political. And effectiveness is the enemy of politics. There have been numerous studies since the 1970s on how to improve the Guard and Reserve. A few good changes have been made, but none that will actually allow the Army reserve components to be truly successful and ready at a moment's notice.

Whether you are for or against the war, it makes sense to have universal conscription - with no education deferments or national guard option.

If, in fact, the war is justified and winnable, a draft would ensure the personnel needed to do it.
If in fact it is not, the people in power will be much more reluctant to send in troops when their own children are the ones going.

Universal conscription would mean fewer wars, as the both politicians and the public would be more of the human costs and not start unnecessary ones, but when we did go to war, we would be much more effective, having a full sized, fully trained military at all times.

I am absolutely opposed to conscription. Heck, I'm opposed to Selective Service. To me it flies in the face of the Thirteenth Amendment, which proscribes involuntary servitude as well as slavery.

If this country is worth defending anymore and if it ever comes under real attack then I feel it will be defended by its people. This is part of the point of the Second Amendment, after all--it does NOT refer to the National Guard! If it's not worth defending, then it needs to be replaced with something else. In my view, turning large segments of the population into military slaves is going to make this country less worth defending.

Sentimentality aside, you ask any military servicemember with command experience, NCO or commissioned, and most of them (if not all) will tell you the draft is a terrible idea. Especially the war vets from Vietnam and before. They saw what happened to morale and cohesion when over half the troops didn't want to be there. Civilian policymakers would be well-advised to, for once, listen to them.

In other words: bring back the draft. How else are we going to sustain two large armies, undergoing intense combat, in two widely-separated countries at the same time? Plus, we need some Guard and Reserve units here in the States in case of domestic emergencies, or as rapid-reaction forces for foreign emergencies.

Right now, most people are too busy to think about such matters. But if you bring back the draft, all of a sudden "the country's not so damn busy anymore" (to quote Jon Stewart). No matter how you slice it, this won't come cheap, either in money or human life. Lots of luck selling *that*, Pres. Obama!

Congress should authorize a draft for Blackwater.

"War is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into absolute damnation. It's peace that's wanted. Some better peace than the one you started with."

~ Lois McMaster Bujold, "The Vor Game", 1990

I believe that anytime we invade a country Congress should be required to formally declare war. When war is declared by Congress it would automatically start up the draft with NO exceptions. Those that could not fight would be required to serve in non combat roles for the duration of the war. This would make going to war a big decision and members of Congress would take their job more seriously when members of their families would be impacted.

count cadence delayed, cadence again, and cadence the count.

Dana wrote:

"I am absolutely opposed to conscription."

A majority of those eligible for the draft would agree with you. I recall a bit of apprehension when my draft number was pulled. Luckily for me, it was a high number and the likelihood of being drafted was very low. But that was back in the day, when women didn't serve in the same capacity as men. Not so now...just another reason to be against conscription. For should a draft be re-instated, it's a good bet that women will be included. That's a can of worms that no politician wants to open.

"If this country is worth defending anymore and if it ever comes under real attack then I feel it will be defended by its people."

I completely agree on this point.

"This is part of the point of the Second Amendment, after all--it does NOT refer to the National Guard!"

Strictly speaking, true. But what else can you point to and call a "well-regulated militia"? Or is that something which will be assembled, ad hoc, determined by need? (My hope is that, when the need arises to defend this nation, those invaders attack with handguns, or other small arms. Otherwise, the "arms" permitted by the Second Amendment will have little effect against the more sophisticated weaponry in use today.)

"If it's not worth defending, then it needs to be replaced with something else."

What?!? If it's not worth defending, why replace it with anything? Why go to the trouble, if it's not worth defending?

Our country has shown the ability to continue in stupid and unjust wars even with conscription. What we need is real-time taxation. Conscript people's money and you'll see a much tighter leash on the war machine. Make the Pentagon and all war efforts be paid in real time present dollars. It's sad to think we may value our money more than we do our children but it's harder to rationalize spending than it is "heroism". The end of wartime deficit spending will bring a quick end to nonessential wars.

If you have skin in the fight, you make sure you follow the rules and make sure you win, don't you?

Not to sound too sixties, but RIGHT ON!

Well there really is no need for worry, even though most of our National Guard and Reserves are over "there" fighting the "good" fight, the USA doesn't have to fear a thing.
Our neighbors to the north and south of us will gladly deploy their troops to defend us, their friends, against a foreign invasion. Well maybe the nation from the south already has a sizeable army here already so we're all set there.
To the north its just a matter of if it should happen; they would whip out their passports and jump to our defense, so there is no need for the return of the draft! As a matter of fact, once McCain is elected we will save a ton of money by closing all bases in the US of A and just keep them based in the Mid East for the next hundred years!

Are you the Steve Bennett that attended Hinton High School then went on to Fort Gordon, GA?