Bush War Adviser Says Draft Worth a Look

Well what do you know the Bush administration is talking about bringing back the draft.

Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.

``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,'' Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.

President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973. Restoring it, Lute said, would be a ``major policy shift'' and Bush has made it clear that he doesn't think it's necessary.

The repeated deployments affect not only the troops but their families, who can influence whether a service member decides to stay in the military, Lute said.

``There's both a personal dimension of this, where this kind of stress plays out across dinner tables and in living room conversations within these families,'' he said. ``And ultimately, the health of the all-volunteer force is going to rest on those sorts of personal family decisions.''

The military conducted a draft during the Civil War and both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. The Selective Service System, re-established in 1980, maintains a registry of 18-year-old men.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has called for reinstating the draft as a way to end the Iraq war.

Bush picked Lute in mid-May as a deputy national security adviser with responsibility for ensuring efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are coordinated with policymakers in Washington. Lute, an active-duty general, was chosen after several retired generals turned down the job.

I say lets do it but there can be no college deferrals, no marriage deferrals or any other excuses to avoid service.

The first to be drafted should be the Young Republicans who are so supportive of this war yet seem to have so little time to fight it. Next should come the sons of Mitt Romney who also support the war but who Mitt says are doing their patriotic duty by trying to get him elected. At least that is what he says now but we all know multiple choice Mitt will have something new to say when he figures out which way the wind is blowing.

If they do reinstate the draft will they change the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy or will gays finally be allowed to die in a worthless war like everyone else?

Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute didn't just make this statement without thinking. They are laying the groundwork for a return to the draft because they have destroyed our military. If you still feel safer after this disastrous war and the destruction of our military then you are truly living in a fool's paradise and nothing I could say or anyone else could say would change your very warped thinking.

All people who support this war and are under 42 years old should join to help us avoid the draft. Don't worry either if you have been convicted of a crime, that is no longer a reason to disallow your service. With the ever expanding age limit you may soon be able to retire from your present job and join the military. I have a feeling they are already designing the logos for the "Grandpa Brigades".