Now, obviously there’s no draft on the table right now. But we all know that congress can ram any old thing through in a week if needed, and we could see a draft appear virtually overnight. And yes, while I appreciate fellow Dopers efforts to fight ignorance by saying that there is no draft currently in the works, I find myself irritated at the vehemence with which they say it–essentially asserting that a draft will NEVER happen, and only tin-foil-hatters believe that one will.
Well, now’s your chance to put your cards on the table, to place your bets for posterity, so that one side or the other can say “I told you so.”
QUESTION: In your opinion, will there be a military draft in the United States during the next presidential election term (January 2005 through January 2009)? Answer yes or no. OPTIONAL: If yes, when will it be instituted.
If there is any lesson to be learned from this administration, its’ that they do not see any limits to their power. I don’t think that a draft is likely, but I wouldn’t rule it out.
I would say that the chance of a draft occuring in the next Presidential term is roughly the same as the chance the USA will have to fight a major land war in the EU, China, Russia, or India, or against alien invaders.
Well, people aren’t really answering a poll here, but if you’re interested in why some people think it’s possible, or not, there is this recent GD thread to peruse.
I think it extremely unlikely to the point of possible political suicide, the sort of thing that no administration or government, short of revoking the first amendment, could possibly hope to contain the backlash that would be pretty well inevitable.
This is something of a moot point for me, though, as most of my friends (and I) would probably not be fit for military service.
Doesn’t count because that term is just a political ploy. Stop-loss is nothing new I knew plenty of people caught up in stop-loss during Desert Sheild-Desert Storm. No one was crying “back-door draft” then. Of course it wasn’t an election year.
No draft. The military doesn’t want it and does not need it.
Why? 'cause he’s gonna need boots on the ground to keep things under control (not to mention that precious Iraqi oil), and there’s no chance in hell anyone else will want to help out the US if he gets re-elected.