Drafting Away The Wars

Next month marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. It’s been ten years since war criminals Bush and Cheney sent us to war under false pretenses and mountains of misinformation.  As a result, over the past decade, thousands of brave men and women have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of serving and defending their country.  

But think about this for a second: Would we still be in Iraq today or even have gone to war with Iraq, if there was still a military draft in this country? 

Look at our involvements in past wars. In World War I, II, the Korean War and even Vietnam, the United States had a military draft in place, and these wars were all far shorter than the Iraq debacle.  Coincidence? I think not…

The fact is America needs to bring back the draft, and needs to have citizens who are committed to their nation. Our founding fathers knew that. That’s why they called for a well-organized militia. That’s why George Washington warned us to beware of foreign entanglements.  

See, the thing about the draft system is that it’s the great leveler.  When there’s a draft, or a citizen’s militia as our founding fathers called it, every single American has skin in the game.  

Less than 1 percent of Americans have been touched by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Less than 1 percent of Americans have had to experience the pain and suffering of losing a loved one on the battlefield. 

But if we were to have a draft, our involvement in wars would affect everyone, from Main Street to Capitol Hill. The children of our nation’s lawmakers would be serving in the military, meaning that our lawmakers would have to put a very personal face to a war, and not just send our men and women off to the battlefields without giving it a second thought.  

A draft also creates more skeptical voices. It creates more questioning and more criticism. It gives rise to more whistleblowers, who put the well-being of the nation and its people ahead of the military industrial complex.  

Speaking of that military industrial complex, it would finally be held in check if we were to re-instate a draft.  The lack of a draft gives rise to a professional military, which is what we have today. That professional military corrupts our democracy, and gets in bed with war profiteers, and the two entities look out for each other’s interests first, and the interests of the nation and its people second.

Then there are the implications that drafts have on public opinion.  Look at Vietnam for instance.  Thanks to the draft, and countless men being sent off to a faraway land only to come back home in a coffin, millions of Americans rallied and protested in our nation’s streets.  They fought tirelessly to bring an end to one of the bloodiest wars in American history.  And ultimately, it was the American people, and their opposition to the Vietnam War, that brought our soldiers home, and ended the devastating war. If we had a draft for the Iraq War, it’s almost certain that Americans would have been in the streets years ago, fighting to bring an end to the purposeless war.  We would not have just blindly accepted that we were plunged into war under false pretenses, and just stood by and watched as our men and women died in the Iraqi desert.  Simply put, drafts get us out of insane wars. 

This all goes beyond a debate over reinstating the draft though. It’s about making Americans recommit to their country.  In addition to the draft, we should be asking Americans to give 1 or 2 years of their life to serve their country, and that doesn’t just mean in the military. Americans could enlist in civilian alternative programs like Americorps, volunteer in hospitals and schools, and care for this nation’s elderly population. Even working in pet shelters could help us to recommit to our nation. 

And it’s important that we reward Americans who give up their time in service of their country. Let’s create a system where Americans who serve in the military or in civilian alternatives for 1 or 2 years are rewarded with free college or trade school education. 

Reinstating the draft, and creating civil service programs will do a wonder of good for our country. Both will greatly help to rebuild this nation’s infrastructure. 

More importantly, both will provide the clear transition from youth to adulthood in our society which we no longer have.  In the past, graduating from high school, and receiving your high school diploma provided the rite of passage from a youth to an adult.  But now, since it is nearly impossible to get a job in this country with a high school diploma alone, this ritual of maturation into an adult has been lost.  A year or two in the military or civil service programs would bring this developmentally healthy ritual back.  

I recognize that many Americans are content with our all-volunteer military, and are happy that the draft is no longer policy in the United States.  But look at the benefits that it would bring. It levels the playing field, and forces everyone to be effected by the tragedy of war.  It makes our lawmakers thing twice before blindly sending our men and women into battle. It helps to brew public opinion, which has the power end war.  It helps to hold our military industrial complex in check, preventing war profiteers from making profits at the expense of American lives.  And it even helps to rebuild our nation, and provide a rite of passage that is desperately needed. 

So, as the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War approaches, just ask yourself, if everyone had skin in the game, would we still be in Iraq today?