To Draft or Not To Draft

Mr. Kerry seems determined to plant the seed of a draft in the minds of young people in this country. It seems to be a coordinated effort using the MTV crowd and other avenues of that genre. Mr. Bush on the other hand has emphatically stated there will be no draft while he is president.

First of all, The President can not institute a draft... it would have to be done by the Congress. Charlie Rangel, democrat from New York introduced a bill to reinstate the draft and it failed 400 something to 2. Charlie, who introduced the bill voted against it. Again, I believe it was designed to 'plant the seed' in peoples minds that The President was going to do the deed.

Trust me when I say, the military, even if they feel they need more troops do not want the draft back. They want people who have volunteered, not those who have been forced to go.

Having said all that, "IF" we continue on our present course, I am 'very' concerned about our troop strength. Iraq is the absolute only thing I have doubts about - not doubts we shouldn't have done it, but doubts about the way it is being fought. I am of the opinion that if enemy fire is coming from the mosques, then level the mosques. And I do mean level them. Get rid of the enemy, get it over with and move on. They say we will lose the people. Duh... I'm thinking we have lost them already. If it takes a Hiroshima, do it. Why??? Because if you believe The President when he named Iraq, North Korea, Iran as the axis of evil, what do you think that means?

When Mr. Kerry talks about a back door draft, it is indeed the one thing I agree with him on. Back door being those who keep getting sent back, those not being allowed to get their normal discharges, not being able to retire etc. I have a friend whose son is in the 'inactive' reserve. That means he enlisted, served his time, and got out. He is now being recalled to active duty. To me, this is a serious warning sign, and one more indication in "MY" mind we need to get tough, get it over with, and get out. The soldier 'and' the parents have done their part... in my mind, they should not be forced to go through it all over again. All I'm saying is, there is in 'my' mind, a difference between inactive and active reserves. And guess what... there are no parades, no public acknowledgements when individual soilders are called... they just get the notice and told to report. Somehow the coldness of that leaves a hollow spot in my stomach. I'm not sure how we at home can ever repay those that serve, but the guard groups, those that go as a group certainly at least have comrade's moral support.

The group that just refused an order to take a fuel supply run is another warning sign. I do not accept carte blanche what I have heard so far. But, in the military you can not have open rebellion. If allowed to stand it will be a spreading cancer very quickly.

In summary, Iraq has indeed turned into an albatross around The Presidents neck, but not because he went, but once again because the politicians will not let the military do what is necessary.