This week I read of cutbacks in US military spending. I also read that the US Defense Department is thinking about how we could wage war with China. Seems we’ve lost some of our big war expertise since we invaded Afghanistan. Outside of the sticky issue of our willingness to wage another war, we will have two problems; new equipment and new troops.
If we cut back military spending we can’t buy expensive guns, boats and planes. If we go to war with China (or worse, Pakistan) we will need those expensive guns, boats and planes. There’ll have to be some real slight-of-hand to afford expensive equipment and well-trained troops.
Assuming we can resolve the equipment issues, we will still need hundreds of thousands of able bodied men and women in the military; way more than Iraq and Afghanistan. New troops not burnt out from repeated deployments, new troops who are willing to sacrifice the tranquility of their home lives for this country.
If we can’t afford the current re-enlistment and extension bonuses or perhaps not enough “volunteers” are that jazzed about enlisting, what then? Well, folks, Here Come Da Draft.
A friend of mine recently opined that if we’d had the draft the good Mr. Bush would not have quite so easily sent “his own private army” off to war. His reasoning concerning the achilles heel of an all-volunteer military is not without merit; that there is far less resistance to sending volunteers to war than sending everyone’s child to war. Indeed, most of us have not sacrified much while a distinct minority have given everything. If we have one more war we’ll have no choice but to institute the draft. Even the sluggish Pentagon admits they need time to heal, to re-tool, to rest.
So, back to our two problems. New equipment and new troops. Maybe for enough of a kick-back our zealous military contractors could manufacture lots of guns, boats and planes. Their willingness to develop and sell new equipment is evident to everyone. But the draft? I remember the draft during Vietnam. MMmm-hhmm. That was really fun.
One might even speculate that if the good Mr. Bush had been subjected to the draft we would have defeated the Taliban 10 years ago and not one soul would have been lost in Iraq. As it is though, we’re in a real pickle now.
