Dismantling us military draft's main mission during wartime: forced enlistment of us citizens

“ Bush doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, getting us involved in all these damn wars, states John Prast. John is a Navy officer who is stationed in San Diego, California. The military draft is wrong because it forces citizens to enlist in the Armed Forces during war time. The draft should be eliminated and only people who want to be enlisted should sign up for it. It is not the citizen’s fault when Congress and the President spread the army thin and need more soldiers. War should be fought by soldiers who willingly enlist themselves in the army. It should not be fought by people who are forced into a military draft. This only creates conflict within the soldier core because this will create two categories of soldiers; those who want to fight and those who only fight because they were drafted.

The draft is a reoccurring issue that has taken center stage in American policy since the 1700’s. The draft can be added to the long line of issues that has baffled American society. John states, “ The military existence in other countries is making the number of volunteer soldiers dwindle and the call for the draft to be even more foreseeable in the future. When draftees are quickly rushed into war without the proper training, they are more likely to cause harm to themselves and others.” It is very important to look at history and learn from mistakes to make better decisions in the future.

The U. S. has military presence in many countries in the world. There are soldiers that are stationed all over the globe. There are millions of soldiers who are serving active duty as we speak. President George Bush did not have a valid reason for invading Iraq. He said that there was evidence that Iraq was holding weapons of mass destruction. American soldiers have been in Iraq for the last 23 months and haven’t found any traces of these weapons. The President stated, “ Here’s what — we’ve discovered a weapons system, biological labs, that Iraq denied she had, and labs that were prohibited under the U. N. resolutions.” Bush used misleading information because he claimed that the labs were used for building biological weapons. When the labs were checked out, no traces of these weapons were found. We are deploying more and more troops into Iraq to fight for a false claim that is just a cover up for alternative motives. The real reason why Bush is in Iraq is to have a stronghold on the oil industry.

By having military presence in Iraq, he will be able to influence Iraqi policy. We are fighting so many wars that we have lost track of all of the other missions that we are currently engaged in. Since March of 2003 when the U. S. launched massive attacks on Iraq, we have since forgotten all the other countries who are fighting wars. Another prime example is Bush claiming Korea was also harboring weapons of mass destruction. Bush has an agenda to name suspect countries and go after them with the excuse that they harbor weapons of mass destruction. The war in Afghanistan has been going on since the fall of 2001 and we still haven’t found Osama bin Laden. The war in Afghanistan is one of mixed reactions. John, states, “ Afghanistan is a whole other issue involving Bush. America was attacked on September 11, 2001 by terrorists. Any time the security of the U. S. is threatened, there is no other option besides retaliation.” I agree with John on this point because we were attacked by terrorists on 9/11 and the only way to hinder terrorism is to look for the people behind the attacks. The U. S. is running out of soldiers that volunteer their services because we are getting into wars that we do not need to get ourselves into. Soldiers should be called into action only when the security of the country is in need. They shouldn’t be fighting for political reasons.

According to John, no one should be forced to go into combat. People shouldn’t be forced to do anything they don’t want to do. If someone who was drafted and unwillingly goes into war, their intentions and loyalty to the U. S. are not always apparent. He states, “ If you put a soldier who was forcefully drafted into a war, no one can predict the drafted soldier’s true objectives. They may be out to defend the U. S., but there are also others who have plans of aiding the enemy and causing harm to other soldiers.” John is obviously against the draft and I agree with him. He made a very good point because not all people who will be drafted have good intentions. They are more prone to turn on the government and fellow soldiers just based on the fact that they were forcefully put into war. In continuance, John points out other reasons why the draft should be ended. He states, “ If there is a draft, the draftees will not have enough time to learn all the basics of combat. It takes at least a full year of training before a soldier can be capable of being deployed.” It takes a lot of time to formally be introduced to military weaponry. Weapons are not toys and are made to cause bodily harm to whom it is fired at. Basic training is used to better prepare soldiers for war. Soldiers who are drafted and rushed through basic training will prove to be a liability in combat, rather than an asset. The casualty rate of friendly fire would definitely increase because of the limited knowledge of equipment that these deployed draftees have.

Vietnam is a very important example of the effects of the war. The main reason why the U. S. went to Vietnam was over policy disputes. The United States wanted to spread Democracy throughout Vietnam and fought against the communist Vietcong. Young men, especially minorities, were drafted and sent to fight alongside soldiers who voluntarily enlisted in the Army. Thousands of young soldiers died and America witnessed their killings on television. This became very detrimental to the psyche of the U. S. Young men and most of them left the country and went North to Canada after being drafted. Mary Lou Seymore states, “ The draft officially ended in 1973. Registration for the draft ended in 1975, and the military reverted to an “ all-volunteer” force.” The draft was ended because congress knew that the Vietnam war was a failure. It was a big blunder to go to Vietnam and congress refuses to admit that U. S. soldiers shouldn’t have fought in it.

In conclusion, the draft should not be implemented. First of all, putting unprepared draftees in a war with weaponry which they do not know how to operate will only create chaos. Also we should learn from the lessons that were taught in Vietnam. America is not the police of the world and we need to stay out of the business of other countries. Fighting for democracy is a good cause, but the U. S. should focus on its domestic problems instead of trying to correct foreign problems. The draft should only be used in time of need to defend the welfare of our country. Bush needs to reevaluate the decisions regarding the military in wartime. His decisions have cost many deaths since he launched his first war in 2001. He needs to make better decisions during his second term in office because he made some very poor ones the last four years of his presidency.