Draft in 2006?
WASHINGTON - If American forces aren't pulling out of Iraq in a year, a draft will be needed to meet manpower requirements, military analysts warned yesterday.
With recruitment lagging and no end in sight for U.S. forces in Iraq, the "breaking point" for the all-volunteer military will be mid-2006, agreed Law-rence-Korb, a draft opponent and assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration, and Phillip Carter, a conscription advocate and former Army captain. They debated at a symposium on the draft yesterday.
"America's all-volunteer military simply cannot deploy and sustain enough troops to succeed in places like Iraq while still deterring threats elsewhere in the world," Carter concluded in the March issue of Washington Monthly magazine.
While conceding that the Army, Marines, National Guard and Army Reserve -- the branches serving most in Iraq -- face recruitment difficulties, military officials have denied any plans to revive the draft, which in 1973 was replaced by an all-volunteer force.
"The 'D-word' is the farthest thing from my thoughts," Army Secretary Francis Harvey said last week. He said the all-volunteer force has proven its value, and he applauded the performance of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During his re-election campaign, President Bush declared flatly that he would not reinstate the draft. And there is little support on Capitol Hill for conscription
I hope this Dosent happen, I'll be 18 then.