Troop strain renews draft debate

'Stop-loss' efforts signal US military's struggle to shore up forces.
by http://www.csmonitor.com Tom Regan Jim Bencivenga

Should the United States reinstate a military draft?

Even though the Associated Press reports that four out of five poll respondents say no to the idea, the Pentagon still seems to have trouble convincing the public it doesn't want a draft either. "I don't know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes it would be appropriate or necessary," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said recently.
Analysts say that the current strain on US forces, caused by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and likely to continue for several more years to come, is one reason that talk of the draft has continued, despite public opinion. Only this week, ABC News reports, the Army issued orders to keep thousands of soldiers in the military longer than they may have planned (the so-called "stop-loss policy"), "in an effort to ensure there are enough combat-ready, fresh forces to continue serving in Iraq and Afghanistan."

The Guardian reports that some critics have called this move a back door "return to the draft." In an opinion piece in Thursday's New York Times, Andrew Exum, a former army captain who served in the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan, called the treatment of soldiers under stop-loss programs "shameful".

"Many, if not most, of the soldiers in this latest Iraq-bound wave are already veterans of several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan," he wrote. "They have honorably completed their active duty obligations. But like draftees, they have been conscripted to meet the additional needs in Iraq."Meanwhile, recruitment is down, particularly in the National Guard and Reserves. ABC reports, for instance, that recruiting for the Air National Guard is off by 23 percent. In an effort to maintain troop strength in Iraq, the US recently announced it was moving 3600 soldiers from duty in South Korea to Iraq. Erich Marquardt, writing in Power and Interest News Report aargues that while the number of troops being moved will make little actual difference to the war in Iraq, it has enormous symbolic importance.

This decision will spark many to argue that the administration of President George W Bush has made ill-fated policy choices that are causing damage to the US military establishment and also to US interests. Present conditions in Iraq mean that there will be no reduction in US troop levels there for some time; if anything, there will need to be an increase in troops. On May 19, General John Abizaid, the chief of US Central Command, warned that the United States "might need more forces" in Iraq. Such an increase would add even further strain to present US military deployments throughout the world.

Regardless of the manpower problem in the military, Mr. Rumsfeld says he remains committed to a totally volunteer military, and doesn't see the need for a draft. He says the latest high amount of military activity is probably a temporary "spike." But some Democratic members of Congress believe that it's necessary to share the burden of fighting America's wars more equitably throughout the population. Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, and Democrat Sen. Fritz Hollings of South Carolina introduced a bill in the House and Senate last year, the Universal National Service Act of 2003.

It would require "that all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." If approved, the measure would require citizens between 19 and 26 to serve two years of military or related service. But The Aberdeen News of South Dakota notes that the bill lacks even the support of Democratic minority leader Sen. Tom Daschle.

An editorial in The Sentinel of Carlisle, Penn., represents most public opinion about the draft. The paper declares that it is "sympathetic to the idea of shared sacrifice," but that there is no need for a draft.

The number of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan is only about a tenth of the complete active-duty force, and there are any number of ways the military could maintain or increase the current Middle East complement if necessary. There's also the political equation. Four out of five Americans oppose the draft right now. To turn those numbers around, citizens would have to be convinced the country is in a deep and immediate danger. And now that we know nearly all the justifications for invading Iraq were inaccurate, we think the current administration would find it difficult to make that kind of case anytime soon. The draft is a tool of last resort for national defense. Thankfully, we're not at that point now.Some people argue, however, that the current attitude towards the draft indicates a lack of public spirit. Charles Moskos, a Northwestern University sociologist who studies military issues, said the draft is an idea "whose time may never come." But he also said the public's reluctance to accept a draft creates a condition of "patriotism lite" – people say they're patriotic but are "not willing to sacrifice anything." Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, argues that the "sons and daughters of the working class" still bear too much of the burden of "defending freedom," while the children of the "affluent" are largely left untouched.

And MSNBC reports on another group that believes the draft is a good idea: veterans of World War II gathered this weekend in France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Despite President Bush's recent speech comparing the war on terror to World War II, the men who fought that struggle say there are few comparisons, and that one of the biggest difference was the presence of the draft.

"You can’t have unity now [behind the Iraq war] when the public isn’t participating in the war. There is no draft ... .So the war is being fought by a professional army," said Warren Josephy [captain of the 187th Field Artillery Battalion when he landed at Omaha Beach on June 8]. For Mr. Josephy, the very fabric of the military has changed because, "you don’t get that rich man, poor man, college graduates mixing in with the working guy that you had then." Gardner Botsford [landed as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Intelligence section of the 1st Infantry Division at Omaha Beach on D-Day] concurred, "There should be a draft. I mean, if we are going to be serious about this military posture we seem to be adopting all over the world. There should be a draft."