Sard,

That's a thoughtful article, C & P and all. I've been thinking for a while now about the possible downsides to our all volunteer military. If there is an upside to the draft, among them is the near instant feedback that occurs in the form of the proportion of objecters, resisters, evaders, and consciencess objectors it produces as to the rightness or wrongness of a particular war or other military action. If there were a draft today, I think the nation's opinion of the Iraq war would be noticably different.

I think the authors' point about the military becoming a single class of society unto itself is a good one. Bad as Vietnam was, the military was a better balanced representation of the society it served.

Veering from the topic slightly, I've been troubled ever since I saw Michael Moore's F/911 wherein he points out that only one member of Congress has a kid in the military service. It points out how much easier it is to "lead" from the rear. It has me thinking that no member of Congress, nor the Prez himself, should be able to commit the nation to war unless they themselves, or their offspring in their stead, are willing to put their or members of their families' lives on the line. A little "leadership from the front" would go a long ways in softening my cynical view of how the ruling class sees themselves as members of our society. At the very least, if Bush's daughters were on the front lines in Iraq, I'd still think he's the stupidest prez ever, but I would nonetheless have more respect for him as the self-proclaimed "war president."

Sincerely,

Salmo g.