Politics and War – The War Czar already off to a bad start, wants to consider the draft.

I knew when Bush was thinking of appointing this guy it was going to suck.

One of the things that our country has always been able to pride itself on was that we kick ass and we do it through the implementation of an all-volunteer army. These are guys who devote their lives to fighting the enemies of America and are very proud to do it. However, because some generals are looking around and are seeing a little bit of stress due to multiple campaigns they freak out and start saying “We need more troops! Lets start forcing people to participate!”

I, despite my pro-military stance, am strongly against the draft. However, Bush’s new War Czar (That title is just a bit too ominous for me) said in a press conference that the option for a draft is always on the table “all things considered”

“I think it makes sense to certainly consider it,” Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered.”

“And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation’s security by one means or another,” said Lute, who is sometimes referred to as the “Iraq war czar.” It was his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.

After he made the statement he quickly rebounded and said that the current all-volunteer army is currently meeting the demands of the country, but I question he reasons for even bringing up the idea of the Draft if things are, as he so says, up to par. He claims that his reasoning for bringing this up because he feels that the constant deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are causing stress not only on the all-volunteer army but on the veterans families themselves. I don’t really understand what he was trying to get at there because it’s one thing against another. Do we have people go who want to go and volunteer? or do we want to instate a motion that would force people to go to war or face jail time?

I, for one, prefer the all-volunteer army. Not because “I” would be effected by the change but because I don’t think things are to the point where we even have to start bringing this up. I mean….if we got invaded or some really REALLY heavy crap started to go down then sure…I could, reasonably, see the generals and the President start considering a reinstatement of the draft, but at this juncture? No, thats just bad policy right now.

For the record: President Bush has stated that he does not think a Draft is necessary and that the option is not on the table.