oj,
coincidently, "Rock the Vote" is running an ad threatening the reinstatement of the Draft should the little rockers not vote. I wonder, who should they then vote for?
this isn't illegal coordination?
Mike

How dare you try to defeat my scare tactic with reason?

Ain't it wonderful how the Great Bloviator knows exactly what his opponent will do, despite all claims and evidence to the contrary, yet he can't tell us what he will do, except that he "has a plan."

Every time you think he and the Dems can't get any lower, they find a way.

Given that the people in the military hate Kerry, re-enlistment will crater, and enlistment will suffer as well, so I think it quite likely that there will need to be a draft under Kerry - just to provide a minimal level defense, not even to prosecute the GWoT.

Can you imagine being in military fighting a war with Kerry as your commander in chief?

The fact that Kerry is resurrecting this canard even though it was explicitly denied by Bush during Debate #2 and even though the House voted the (Democrat-sponsored) measure that proposed reinstituting it down almost unanimously, _and_ even though the Pentagon has said over and over again in as many words that it absolutely DOES NOT WANT a draft, can't be taken as anything other than a sign of increasing anxiety in the Democratic camp over the election prospects if not outright desperation. They must have seen the latest Zogby poll (if Zogby, a notorious Dem leaner, gives Bush a 4-point lead, who knows what the other polls are going to look like over the next week?)

Young people are trending to Bush; cardboard is out this year. Hence, Kerry lies to the kids. Should some other group trend to Bush next week, it'll be their turn to be lied to.

Kerry's cancellation of of bunker-busters & missle defense (coupled with a self-imposed ban on nukes)would also make a need for mass ground-troops (hence, the draft) more likely.

Consider a scenario where a bunker-buster was exactly the right tool; Kerry would have to use a conventional nuke...or submit to an awful fate.

This is really desperation by the Dems as Bush has denied repeatedly and the House voted it down overwhelmingly.

Also, to Bret's point, I think it is very possible that you could see mass resignations in the armed forces if Kerry is elected which is a nightmare scenario I don't want to think about.

No, AWW, you won't see that. We didn't under Clinton, they won't under Kerry. I enlisted, under Reagan, simply because the armed forces were hiring in a big way, and the economy was flat; got out under Clinton because they were laying off ("drawing down"), and the ecomomy was booming. That's why a good chunk of people enlist and separate, even in the combat arms MOSs. (You might be on a bit sounder ground with commissioned officers, who've been trending Republican in a big way.) Morale is reasonable in deployed units, considering what they're up against (actually a bit better than for the force as a whole), active duty re-enlistment is good enough, recruiters are making their numbers, Guard and Reserves are a worry. That's not Bush's doing, it's something the services have managed on their own, and it won't be undone just because Senator Marblehead becomes President Marblehead.

The scary truth is that Kerry may be right in his obviously facetious comment about a draft. Bush's Iraq War will require more active duty extensions until he finds that the reservists and national guard weekend warriors are not without their limits. Then what?

Then you raise payscales until the market clears.

The Army has begun the drawing down of troops in S. Korea and Germany. We can also draw down the Marines from Okinawa. That's about 120k troops. Closing 24% of our CONUS bases will free up addtitional manpower. With plans to contract out wasteful backup activities now performed by enlistees and reconfiguring our warfighting units toward greater rapid deployment capability should result in even more boots on the ground with greater capabilities.

Until our recent past, we had 10 personnel in the rear for each combat soldier deployed. That's changed and the process will continue toward a more effective use of manpower. Of course all of the above assumes the Republicans will remain in power.

We're certain if Kerry wins he's going nowhere; especially not Pakistan. He may do Haiti again, for effect and the only drawdown he'll do will be in Iraq.

The institution of a draft would make our current foreign policy impossible. Dragooning young men and women into harm's way can only be done if we face an obvious and undeniable existential threat. Moreover, draftees don't want to be there and so make lousy soldiers.

It is far wiser to use volunteers and pay them what the market demands.