Category: The Draft

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The Draft

Attendant Loss of Life

war, the draft, slavery, foreign policy, lottery

Is there an easy way to avoid the insanity of what author and decorated Marine vet Elliot Ackerman calls America’s “two-​decade military quagmire”?

Yesterday, I took issue with Ackerman’s idea of a “reverse-​engineered draft,” whereby each year about 65,000 young men and women — but only those with parents in the highest federal tax bracket* — would be forced into the military for two years of “service.” 

“A draft places militarism on a leash,” he argues. But in reality, select young people lose their freedom and politicians don’t relinquish any powers.

Still, Ackerman maintains that 

  1. “with a draft the barrier to entering new wars would be significantly higher” 
  2. placing these “kids” in jeopardy via military conscription would activate their wealthy and influential parents to lobby Congress and the White House 
  3. “could create greater accountability” 

ultimately resulting in a saner military posture around the globe, hopefully allowing us to “avoid … a major theater war, the continuance of our ‘terror wars,’ the attendant loss of life.”

Threatening to draft their kids would raise the eyebrows of parents. That’s why when Congress last voted on legislation mandating a draft, even the bill’s author voted NO.

But would having a small drafted force somehow actually save lives?

Let’s look at combat deaths when the United States used a military draft, post-​World War II, and compare that to the time-​period since 1973, when the draft ended and the All-​Volunteer Force began. Those numbers are not close: 

  • Between 1946 and 1973, with the draft in place, nearly 100,000 American soldiers were killed overseas. 
  • Over the more than four decades since the draft ended, fatalities remain under 10,000.

That’s a heap-​big correlation between the military draft and “attendant loss of life.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* As I noted yesterday, targeting the draft to apply only to top income earners clearly violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

war, the draft, slavery, foreign policy, lottery

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Fourth Amendment rights national politics & policies The Draft

Rich Kids for Ransom

Elliot Ackerman, conscription, war, slavery, soldiers,

Elliot Ackerman wants peace so badly that he is willing to conscript our sons and daughters into the military in hopes of achieving it. 

“From Somalia to Syria, American forces are engaged in combat,” the author and decorated Marine veteran writes in Time. “With recent military posturing against Iran, against North Korea, it is also easy to imagine our country sleepwalking into another major theater war.”

Mr. Ackerman is not arguing the draft would help in current or future combat operations, or appreciably improve the military. In answer to the obvious question, “Why would you degrade the finest fighting machine the world has ever known?” he replies, “[W]e must move the issues of war and peace from the periphery of our national discourse to its center.”

How? 

Ackerman proposes a “reverse-​engineered draft.” 

His idea is to call up 65,000 young men and women by lottery for two-​year terms of servitude. This would represent roughly 5 percent of the armed forces. “And no one could skip this draft,” he claims … though obviously not everyone sent a “Greetings” letter will be physically able to serve. 

Lastly, he insists that “the only ones eligible” would be “those whose families fall into the top income tax bracket.”

In short, conscript the rich kids!

Of which Ackerman was one.*

Maybe his stance of theatrical class self-​sacrifice distracted him from his proposal’s blatant violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. 

All this to stir up more angst from allegedly influential high-​income earners by turning their children into political hostages.

Doesn’t make Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* In the 1990s, I served with Peter Ackerman, Elliot’s father, on the board of directors of U.S. Term Limits.

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Elliot Ackerman, conscription, war, slavery, soldiers,

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national politics & policies The Draft

No Exceptions

John Delaney, conscription, selective service, slavery, involuntary, freedom,

“It’s time to bring the country together,” says Rep. John Delaney (D‑Maryland), aspiring to be our next commandeer-​in-​chief, “restore our sense of shared purpose and a common and inclusive national destiny.”

How? 

Forcibly: “John Delaney’s Plan for National Service” states that “Every American will complete a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years of mandatory national service when they graduate high school, or turn 18.”

Delaney joins other glassy-​eyed statists in hallucinating that “mandating national service” will “build a future where young people begin their adult lives serving their country and working alongside people from different backgrounds.” 

That is, he explains, “Where people … who grew up in the suburbs, in farm towns, in coal country, in urban communities get to know each other, get to learn from each other, and get to see firsthand that we still have a lot in common.”

Except that young people won’t “get to,” they’ll “have to.” 

As a Delaney news release emphatically emphasizes about his forced national conscription: “No exceptions.”

If you’re a LeBron James type NBA prospect, forget that multi-​million dollar contract for a year or two. You have streets to sweep. 

If you’re pregnant? Have a terminal disease? This time isn’t yours but the government’s.

And why is it always young people who “get to” be shanghaied? 

Never the politicians. 

No matter how many fifty-​something politicians such as Delaney find their fellow middle-​aged cohort to be disunited and non-​cohesive, no one ever suggests that his own age group — that he himself — be enslaved into government service.

For their own good, of course.

And the nation’s destiny.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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John Delaney, conscription, selective service, slavery, involuntary, freedom,

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Common Sense The Draft

Of Honor and Horror

army, twitter, public relations, veterans,

Last week, when the public relations wing of the U.S. Army asked, on Twitter, “how has serving impacted you?” the bulk of the responses were not what was hoped for. What came like tear drops and bursts of rage were thousands of horrific tales, expressions of sorrow, bitterness and despair.

No doubt the intention was to elicit, if not patriotic uplift, at least stories of learning, moral growth, centeredness, and personal victory out of sacrifice and suffering. Almost certainly the Army wanted what the promoters of “national service” now want.

The outcome was far messier.

Now, the Army handled the Twitterflak very well, with a tweet thanking people for their expressions. But a response by Mike Schmidt (@MikeSchmidt69) was probably as upbeat as could be expected, given the ‘writing on the wall’— er, Twitterfeed: “Some say this thread back-​fired but this is just the thread that is needed each [M]emorial [D]ay so we remember the sacrifices military members and their families make and how we as a country need to understand the true cost of service and improve our support.”

Most of the tweets I read were decidedly not upbeat. The anger and pain over battle deaths, wounds, PTSD, mental illness, suicides, and so much indifference to it — it was deep and wide … and heartbreaking.

‘War is hell.’ In self-​defense — defense of These United States — the brave soldier and general is honorable. But that honor is informed by the reticence that comes from actual knowledge of its true costs.

Maybe this Memorial Day President Trump and all policy makers will finally get what service truly is … and stop pitching more of the same unjustifiable-​because-​unwinnable or ‑unendable interventions around the world. 

Of course, demanding peace and sanity and accountability is up to all of us holding the hot dogs.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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general freedom national politics & policies The Draft

Hypothetical Cowardice?

Congressman Joe Heck, draft, selective service, volunteers, national service

We must treat real threats realistically. 

But what to do with bizarrely hypothetical ones?

Last week, former Congressman Joe Heck (R‑Nev.), chairman of the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service, addressed witnesses at a hearing in Washington: “So I want to pose a hypothetical scenario and ask your response.”

“We are in the Red Dawn scenario being attacked from both Canada and Mexico,” he related. “There is no Selective Service System. The All Volunteer Force is insufficient. There’s been a presidential and congressional call for volunteers, for people to step up. However, the response has not been enough to meet the threat, the actual threat to our homeland.” 

“How would you propose to meet the demand?” inquired the chairman.

Seriously? We must prepare for military conscription because of the likelihood that Canada and Mexico will launch a joint invasion?

Leaving one ridiculous supposition, during the public comment period, I confronted the other: hypothetical American cowardice.

“This is really all about trust,” I told the commission.

“Do you trust the American people to step up in times of crisis — from Pearl Harbor to 9/​11 — or do you not? I submit that all evidence points to the fact that they will, because they have. 

“Or should we trust Congress with the awesome power to take our sons and daughters away because they choose to, because there’s a ‘big emergency’ or maybe just because we figure it will help with ‘social cohesion’? I submit that all evidence points to the fact that we cannot trust Congress.”

I urged commissioners “to tell Congress: trust the American people — end draft registration, don’t extend it to women, and do not force any sort of national service.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Congressman Joe Heck, draft, selective service, volunteers, national service

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general freedom national politics & policies Popular The Draft

No Need

“So, my bottom line is there is no need to continue to register people for a draft that will not come; no need to fight the battle over registering women, and no military need to retain the MSSA.”

The MSSA is the Military Selective Service Act. It authorizes the Selective Service System (SSS) to register young men for a possible draft and, should conscription resume, manage that process. The law allows the government to imprison those who do not register.* I know, I violated the Act 38 years ago by refusing to sign my name on a draft registration form.

But the quoted statement, above, wasn’t mine. No sirree. That was testimony from Dr. Bernard Rostker, the director of Selective Service back in 1980, when President Carter re-​instituted mandatory registration. 

Rostker made two cogent points at yesterday’s National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service hearing:

  • First, the modern military neither needs nor wants a massive manpower infusion, which would only dilute the quality of the All-​Volunteer Force. 
  • Second, the list of young men registered with SSS is woefully inadequate, “systematically lack[ing] large segments of the eligible male population and for those that are included, the currency of information contained is questionable.”

Come some future emergency, the former director contends that a draft could be instituted just as quickly without this ongoing registration program. Sure, but that misses the bigger picture: This country has never needed conscription to raise an army. Americans — from Pearl Harbor to 911 — have always stepped up voluntarily.

Mr. Rostker advises “suspending draft registration.”

He took the words right out of my mouth — though I prefer “abolish.”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

* The maximum penalty is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but no one has been prosecuted for decades. Most of the enforcement effort comes in denying driver’s licenses, college loans and government jobs to men who don’t register. Commission Chairman Joe Heck explained at yesterday’s hearing that 75 percent of registrants do so in order to complete a license or college application.

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