--- WD <mister.wd at gmail.com> wrote:
> I get the argument, and it isn't crazy, but I don't
> ultimately find it
> persuasive. First, the abolition of the draft has
> certainly bettered
> the lives of those of us who have never wanted to
> join the military in
> the first place -- that's a pretty big advancement,
> to say the least.
> Second, wealthy Americans have always been pretty
> good at weaseling
> out of combat anyway, our current president being a
> prime example.
> Third, military service changes people -- often not
> for the better.
> The idea that you can systematically break down a
> person's inhibitions
> against killing and then count on him/her being a
> well-adjusted
> citizen afterwards is pretty silly. Try talking to
> a criminal defense
> attorney who has represented a lot of ex-military
> defendants what s/he
> thinks military culture does to people in the long
> run. Fourth, just
> because a draft might prevent an unpopular
> imperialist war, that
> doesn't mean it can prevent a popular one: who knows
> what we'd be
> doing in Afghanistan right now if we weren't in
> Iraq. Finally, as you
> point out, the volunteer army imposes its own limits
> on imperial
> adventures. They're already relaxing the
> recruitment standards big
> time because the creme de la creme of the U.S.
> working class has been
> used up.
>
[WS:] But many European countries have draft as well as civilian alternative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_service i.e. people working as "volunteers" in public instituions, or Civilan Public Service in the US:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Public_Service
In Russa:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3996/is_200601/ai_n16537296
Wojtek