One of the most ceaselessly annoying ideas to come out of some "progressive" circles is the misguided notion that instituting the draft, or rather talking about instituting a draft, is going to solve our problems with respect to the War in Iraq.
The logic goes that by instituting a draft, we force more Americans (especially more well-to-do Americans) to think of the true costs of the war, and ideally, the troops come home.
This ignores one key important fact: the chances of Congress instituting a draft is much smaller than Congress actually growing a spine and defunding the war. Not only that, but those pushing a draft are assuming that the American people will fight tooth and nail against the war because of the draft. There is no draft in place right now, and if one were seriously proposed the American people would fight tooth and nail against it before it was enacted and before it could help end the war.
Besides it makes no sense to devote our energy to overcome one massive hurdle in order to surmount some other slightly less massive hurdle. Why not just focus on ending the war?
There are many other flawed arguments in favor of a draft:
Myth #1: Instituting a draft will force children of the economical advantaged and those of political leaders to serve. This will put "skin in the game" and make our political leaders think first before putting our military in harms way.
Actually, no it won't. In fact, in every draft in history the rich and the children of political leaders have escaped the requirement to serve, from the Civil War to Vietnam. Aren't we so fond of pointing out that Bush, Cheney, Rove, Wolfowitz, et al, got deferments from serving in Vietnam? Do you really think that a draft now would be any different?
Myth #2: A draft will ensure the burdens of war are equally shared.
See above. The draft has always fallen disproportionately on the economically disadvantaged. It has never been the equalizing force that some are arguing it would be.
Myth #3: The draft ended Vietnam
No, it didn't. The draft was in place for the duration of the conflict and the Vietnam war dragged on and on and on. 58,000+ American soldiers died along with potentially millions of Vietnamese. That's a terrible track record for ending a war. Don't forget that progressive groups at this time were working to end the draft in order to end the war, not the other way around. They were burning their draft cards, not embracing them.
It can be argued that by providing this large supply of troops, the draft actually prolonged the war. I mean, for a second imagine if Bush had hundreds of thousands of additional young men and women to commit to his "surge" delusion? Do you really want to give him that opportunity? Do you really want to take that risk?
Myth #4: With a draft, the American people will be more skeptical of dubious military ventures. If we had a draft, we never would have invaded Iraq.
History shows this to be false. When we got seriously involved in Vietnam, we had a draft. The public overwhelmingly supported the war in Vietnam for quite some time. In fact, by the time public opinion shifted, far more American soldiers had died in Vietnam than have died up to now in Iraq.
Myth #5: By proposing a draft, we are ratcheting up on the pressure on the Bush administration, not hurting our cause.
Actually, by seriously proposing a draft you are handing fodder to our political enemies and you are alienating what should be the most important group of people Democrats and progressives should be targeting: young people. And no, when you propose a draft, we do not blame Bush. We have enough to blame Bush for and we already have ample reason to oppose this war. By pushing a draft, you are attaching the Democratic Party brand and the progressive brand to the draft, you are not attaching it to the Republicans. This is a losing strategy.
Instead of arguing explicitly for a draft, warn young people that a draft may become more of an attractive option for political leaders if this war continues. Make it clear that under a Republican President this war will go on, and under a Democratic one it will end. Instead of arguing that we should put lawmakers' "skin in the game," talk about how the wealthy have abdicated their responsibility to pay for a war they instigated, for the first time in American history. Instead of pushing a draft, talk about raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for the war.
Please, just stop talking about a draft.