Women could be forced to sign up to US military draft by 2018

[Tijuana]

i never asserted that, but i find your advocating forcing it onto people to be disgusting. let people decide for themselves if they are capable or willing to do military service. if they dont want to defend their country in time of need forcing them to will only bog down those who are willing.

I fail to see the moral equivalency of calling PTSD sufferers cowards, to asking all citizens to share in defense, if needed. /shrug

[Slant]

So its ok to draft men not women, what about equality?

We can talk about that when men are 9 months pregnant for an average of 2 kids in their lifetime.

Equality only goes so far, at some point it's turning into comedy. If we ask of women to stay real, it doesn't help if we make such short sighted demands.

Ok, that was serious me... now for the more fun me: Go equality! Draw every feminazi and give her a gun! I'm sure that'll turn out well... :P

[Tijuana]

US Military is underfunded and US Army is undermanned for the missions civilians given to them. My best friend did two tours in Afghanistan and is going back for a third next week as a contractor (which is how the US says it is "bringing the troops home" without actually doing it), this time making nearly $200,000. And there are guys who did four and five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I hate this practice. I feel there is also a case to be made that it cheats soldiers out of benefits, to replace them with contractors who don't get them.

[starlord]

I fail to see the moral equivalency of calling PTSD sufferers cowards, to asking all citizens to share in defense, if needed. /shrug

you are the only person who has made that statement. there are ample people without ptsd who simply decide they dont want to be there and do the bare minimum required to not go to jail until their time is up.
and a draft is not "simply asking." simply asking is the volunteer service already in place. you are advocating forcing people to potentially suffer ptsd or risk being killed because you have some romanticized ideal of ww2.

[Skroe]

I hate this practice. I feel there is also a case to be made that it cheats soldiers out of benefits, to replace them with contractors who don't get them.

Well this largely full-of-shit country wants to fight the wars it needs to fight (or wants to fight) in places around the world, while obscuring the cost of it to our society. It does so through having single service members do more deployments than was ever imagined (and for longer), and for having a hidden army of contractors, like my friend, who are getting paid many times as much for nearly the same job.

All so smiling idiots like Obama can get on TV and say "we're bringing the Troops home"

When I say we're a non-serious country, this is exactly what I mean. Sure... our presence in Afghanistan is far lower than a decade ago, if you ignore the thousands of US Troops who took off their military uniforms and put on civilian attire.

It's exactly like we handle capital punishment. There is a certain honesty in China shooting it's condemned in the back of the head, rather than Americans dressing it up like some kind of humane medical procedure.

[Tijuana]

you are the only person who has made that statement. there are ample people without ptsd who simply decide they dont want to be there and do the bare minimum required to not go to jail until their time is up.
and a draft is not "simply asking." simply asking is the volunteer service already in place. you are advocating forcing people to potentially suffer ptsd or risk being killed because you have some romanticized ideal of ww2.

You eluded to the suicide rate, which few would argue PTSD is not the root of. Look, if you want to walk it back now, that is fine. But don't act like you didn't say what you said.

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Well this largely full-of-shit country wants to fight the wars it needs to fight (or wants to fight) in places around the world, while obscuring the cost of it to our society. It does so through having single service members do more deployments than was ever imagined (and for longer), and for having a hidden army of contractors, like my friend, who are getting paid many times as much for nearly the same job.

All so smiling idiots like Obama can get on TV and say "we're bringing the Troops home"

When I say we're a non-serious country, this is exactly what I mean. Sure... our presence in Afghanistan is far lower than a decade ago, if you ignore the thousands of US Troops who took off their military uniforms and put on civilian attire.

It's exactly like we handle capital punishment. There is a certain honesty in China shooting it's condemned in the back of the head, rather than Americans dressing it up like some kind of humane medical procedure.

I never would have guessed a military buff to hate his own nation. That's unfortunate you feel that way.

[Gemini Soul]

We can talk about that when men are 9 months pregnant for an average of 2 kids in their lifetime.

Equality only goes so far, at some point it's turning into comedy. If we ask of women to stay real, it doesn't help if we make such short sighted demands.

Ok, that was serious me... now for the more fun me: Go equality! Draw every feminazi and give her a gun! I'm sure that'll turn out well... :P

They wont draft a pregnant woman...

Besides if women weren't part of the draft Feminist would file lawsuit against sexual discrimination against the US Government.

[starlord]

You eluded to the suicide rate, which few would argue PTSD is not the root of. Look, if you want to walk it back now, that is fine. But don't act like you didn't say what you said.

i was pointing out how there are adverse effects even on those who volunteered to be there. there would likely be even more for someone who was forced to go. they do not have a positive outlook on their situation. and when someone commits suicide it affects more than just them. it impacts their whole unit, or in some notable cases, the equipment. sometimes they decide take others with them.

[Skroe]

You eluded to the suicide rate, which few would argue PTSD is not the root of. Look, if you want to walk it back now, that is fine. But don't act like you didn't say what you said.

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I never would have guessed a military buff to hate his own nation. That's unfortunate you feel that way.

I don't hate my country. Quite the countrary. I simply hold it to a higher standard than the legions of fake-conservatives. There is no legitimacy in feeling good about something that is fake.

[volescue]

Drafts are dumb. This is fine though. However, the goal should be to end the draft. Drafts are a dumb idea.

I agree. I ran into enough people who had no business being in the military or realized they didn't want to be in the military shortly after stepping off the bus that ended up being dead weight and/or troublesome later on. WWIII could happen tomorrow and there would still be people against the war/military. Those aren't the type of people you want to have to rely on.

Plus our military of paid volunteers greatly outnumbers every other country, even those that mandate military service, with the exception of China. Additionally, people have proven numerous times over the years that when there is a war they think is worth fighting, they step up to the plate.

Nevermind the fact that the vast majority of people who signed up for the draft wouldn't even qualify for service without serious time investment or a serious look at lowering requirements.

[Sundreamer]

Drafts are dumb. This is fine though. However, the goal should be to end the draft. Drafts are a dumb idea.

thankfully, a bit before i turned 18 they got rid of the draft in germany

[Tijuana]

I don't hate my country. Quite the countrary. I simply hold it to a higher standard than the legions of fake-conservatives. There is no legitimacy in feeling good about something that is fake.

I have yet to see you take a Conservative position, on a single subject. Being a war hawk is not what defines Conservatism. Just be who you are. You don't have to fake it for me, baby.

[AlphaOut]

Draft are dumb until they're not. If there are vacancies that need to be filled in various military MOS's that can't be obtained through volunteers, then the draft is necessary. I would hate to go into a large scale war with a shortage of mechanics, for example. However, it'd have to be an insanely large war to actually need a draft. Think about it, we haven't had a draft in over 40 years and have had how many conflicts since? The current endless conflict in the middle east didn't even draft. While is isn't a "large" war, it still requires an insane amount of manpower. During the surge there were over 150,000 troops just in Iraq. I don't agree with the current form of selective service, it does need to get reworked; however a contingency should still remain in place to bolster numbers in a dire situation. But either way, if there were to somehow be a draft, women shouldn't be excluded.

[Gemini Soul]

Ah, that classic draft dodge - as soon as you're drafted, have tons of sex and hope for the best.

I kid, I kid!

lol i see what you did there!

[melodramocracy]

Without the drafts we have had in the past, you would have no freedom to celebrate.

I keep forgetting how Vietnam was a defense of the US mainland.

[Allybeboba]

I keep forgetting how Vietnam was a defense of the US mainland.

Curtailed the overall spread of Communism. I remember going with my mother and sister to meet my father at the airport when he came home from Vietnam.
Who knew he would be meeting me some 17 years later coming back from something similar.

[melodramocracy]

Curtailed the overall spread of Communism. I remember going with my mother and sister to meet my father at the airport when he came home from Vietnam.
Who knew he would be meeting me some 17 years later coming back from something similar.

Right, which had nothing to do with actually defending our way of life here in the US. While I'm respectful of people who serve, implying that all of our military efforts are to defend US freedoms is terribly off base.

[Celista]

Oh well? We should be selected for the draft along with men.

[Allybeboba]

Right, which had nothing to do with actually defending our way of life here in the US. While I'm respectful of people who serve, implying that all of our military efforts are to defend US freedoms is terribly off base.

Sometimes life isn't fair and you have to do what your told.

That is partly why employers really like hiring military people. They understand command hierarchy.

[Coffeexbean]

liberal feminist here and I think its only fair for women to be put on the draft like men are but like many others said it would be nice to not have a draft at all.