Close The Window

It almost goes without saying, but I feel the need to post it anyways. I am against a mandatory draft. Rumors of reinstating the draft have been floating around Bush's presidency since he invaded Iraq, and McCain has hinted at the same if he gets elected. Little known fact, but the Libertarian party has it's origins in the 70's on the basis of opposing the mandatory draft.

The implication of a mandatory draft is this: the government owns you. Until you pay your debt to your country, the government owns your life and can send you into battle if it chooses. I just don't think that's what this country is all about. As an officer in the Navy, I am told that I am fighting for freedom. As a volunteer, I am fighting for the freedom of all civilians (taxpayers, to be specific). But in a mandatory draft, people are really fighting for their own freedom. Earning it, if you will. Isn't this country is built on the idea that you are born free?

Don't get me wrong, the military has been good to me and my family. The military paid for my undergraduate education and is paying for medical school. And I do believe that people owe three years to their country. I think this country would be a much better place if everyone spent three years in the military. But it has to be voluntary. I don't want to force anyone into the military any more than I want to force anyone into college. If there were a real threat to the country, people would sign up. Just look at what happened after September 11. I personally know three people who joined the Marines for specifically that reason, ready to fight in Afghanistan. But they got pulled into a war they didn't want.