:: The Rational Radical Blog ::

Sunday, October 06, 2002

I was thinking: the best long-term strategy to derail Bush's serial war plans would be to reinstate the draft. Right now, with our "volunteer" army, only poor and working class families in America face death and injury to loved ones from Bush's empire-building. Unfortunately, the poor and working class have no political clout in this country (for reasons we won't get into here). If kids from middle-class and wealthy families started coming home in body bags, however, that would soon put a brake on U.S. aggression overseas.

So we should have a campaign entitled something like "A Draft Without Deferments for a War Without End. All Americans Should Share the Burden Equally." This would call for a universal draft of all men and women 18-24, selected by a birthday-based lottery. No student deferments, no alternative Bushian domestic National Guard escapes, no excuses at all. Anyone 4F but able to contribute in any way would still be drafted and sent to do non-combat work in the war zone.

It may sound pretty unusual for the Left to be calling for the draft, but unprecedented times call for unprecedented strategies.

Jack Clark 11:33 PM [+]   
Post #82625997