Via CNN:
Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.
Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute is the president's war adviser. Several retired generals turned down the post.
"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."
"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," said Lute, who is sometimes referred to as the "Iraq war czar." It was his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.
Reinstating a draft would be disastrous. Avoiding the draft was the biggest reason--and most successful reason--for protests during the Vietnam War. After President Richard Nixon repealed the draft, protests to the war dropped significantly.
Although conscription was de rigueur throughout American history, flashpoints such as the Civil War and Vietnam created rebellions against the practice.
One of the outstanding features of the current conflict is the all-volunteer nature of our army. As I stated back in this post, claims that our army is disproportionately poor and black are untrue. And as this story points out, without the draft as a focal point, peace protests don't have the same punch.
Needless to say, the nutroots and their commenters have grabbed onto Lute's statements with hope (see here, here, and here).
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