Gangs in the Military

shogun
Sun, 20 Aug 2006 18:22:46 +0000

Back then (WW1 and WW2) the majority of the population was isolationist and in fact elected BOTH sitting presidents at the time on the promise that they keep America out of the European war. Evidently things back then were VERY much like today in terms of whether an all volunteer force can sustain this nation at war. It couldn’t do it in WW1, WW2, Korea, or Vietnam. It wouldn’t have been able to do it in Desert Storm had Bush1 decided not to stop the attack on Saddam and instead gone in to over-throw the regime and occupy Iraq. We can see now the result of trying to occupy and control territory with an all volunteer force. There weren’t enough volunteers to stop Hitler and the Japanese Empire, there weren’t enough volunteers to stop the Kaiser, the N Koreans, the N Vietnamese, and there weren’t enough volunteers to preserve the Union in 1861. It’s a reality that isn’t easily overcome, even with our technology—unless we are just going to nuke "em all, boots on the ground are whats needed.

I agree, the draft would be a political football, but then the whole war on terror has gone that route already.