They wish for a draft so the people who dont agree with the war would would be forced to fight. No thank you the willing are doing better than ever!!!!!!

I see no reason NOT to have a draft. Every able body person should fulfill at least 2 years of service to their country. These Iraq veterans need a break from all this. No one should have to serve 5 tours in a combat zone. Our young men and women deserve better. I served during vietnam, there was a draft then, we need one now. PLUS some of these congress people sons and daughters should be taken in, maybe we won't be so quick to jump into something before exploring other options. Rumsfield reminds me of McNamara during the Johnson years.. Nothing but lies there also... And Jimmy Carter, by not standing up to the Iranians during the hostage crisis, just emboldened these radicals.

I think it is only a matter of time before there is a draft. I am currently deployed to Iraq and have been in the military for 13 years. All of us who have been in for more than 10 years have seen such a gradual decline in the quality of soldier. Each division in the military is deploying to either Iraq or Afghanistan every other year, mine included. No one wants to be in anymore so the older guys looking to retire are saying forget this. The military has to replace those who get out so they promote people too fast producing lesser quality leaders. I was also a drill sergeant at FT. Jackson, SC. We are told to make things easier on the recruits. The bottom line is that the military, across all branches, are lowering standards to keep the numbers up. We are exchanging quality for quantity and a draft is exactly that. We are not in a war, just like the Vietnam war was not a war. We, as the united states, will never rid an entire country of people that terrorize. We can't even get crime in our country to stop...visit Harlem or Compton or Miami and tell me I am wrong. This is Vietnam II.

If there's a draft it should be limited to the states that voted for Bush.

I don't know why New York or California should send sons and daughters off to die for Bush's mad experiment.

If you support the war you shouldn't have any problem with you or your children fighting for it.

Considering that the occupation of Iraq has already lasted longer than the US involvement in WWII, or WWI, or the Korean War, and will be soon approaching the length of the Civil War, I think a draft would be the final nail in the coffin for public support of this war.

Do you think for a minute that the "fortunate sons" will have to serve? They will have ways of avoiding a draft or comfy positions in the state side reserved for them in the Texas Air National Guard - only the rest of us will be affected.

It may be political suicide to state it, but I'd rather have leaders that tell us what we need to know not what we want to here. Since the voting public was happy with the direction our country was being taken by this administration, they should now be willing to put their money (or in this case, their children) where there mouth/vote is. We can't have our cake and eat it to. The Neo-Conservative agenda of the administration advocates our ability and wilingness to use force to advance our foreign policy. That requires a military fully manned, trained, and equipped to meet the challenge. Either change the foreign policy or accept the necessity of a draft.

Jake, I am with you that no one should have to serve multiple tours of combat duty. Add to this the shabby manner in which our vets are treated in order to cut costs, for no reason other than to finance Bush's tax cuts for the top 1%. You know and I know that the only reason this is happening is that Bush and the Republicans know that drafting young Americans to fulfill the imperial fantasies of the neocons would be political suicide. I have draft age sons, and while I generally agree that all citizens owe something to their country, I am truly loath to entrust their safety to the current regime. This war must end.

YEAH, LETS HAVE A DRAFT. IT WOULD BE FASCINATING TO WATCH ALL OF THESE CONSERVATIVE "CHICKEN HAWKS" MORPH INTO "PEACE DOVES"

I think a lot of Americans have been living with the illusion that the problem of our Iraq policy carries zero personal consequences for them (unless they have loved ones in the military). We, as a democratic nation that elects our leaders, pay a price if we just sort of let the whole system go on autopilot. If we just sort of shrug our shoulders and say, "well, our leadership SOUNDS like they know what they're doing so, gee, I guess it's o.k.," then we can wind up in erally dire situations. (And the possibility of a draft is a big reminder that there are good reasons that some people have the attitude that it's a big deal and a big mistake to start wars that are not demonstrably a last resort.)

I'm too old to be drafted (nearly 50) so I think that young people especially do need to see this as a wake-up call, and speak up loud and clear if they think a draft should be off the table of options.

(I don't blame young people for not having fully grasped what could happen if they supported a war that might not be finishable -- I am just barely old enough to remember the draft, and the fear of having an older brother possibly have to go to Vietnam.)

Washington Post Tom Ricks’ greatest fear is that instability in Iraq will lead to instability in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Should the House of Saud fall, al Qaeda might get "the oil," and should Musharraf fall, "the bomb." But unlike Vietnam, the domino theory is quite possible. And we should not kid ourselves that these global militant jihadist won't be willing to commit the "altruistic murder" of infidels and apostates in order to realize their dream of establishing a pan-Islamic caliphate--they are more than willing to “destroy the world in order to save it.” [I think that global militant jihadism is a clear and present danger to the United States; unfortunately like Europe in 1938, we have yet to wake up to the reality that political Islam is now on the march.]

As James Madison said in Federalist #57, "the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed...." [Think of Giuliani/Bratton’s success of making NYC governable again by flooding the streets with cops in order to reestablish law and order.] In his pre-war professional judgment, how many troops did General Shinseki say was needed to establish law and order in Iraq? Now in our current worst-case situation, how many more troops are now needed? [As an aside, note that John Murtha has called for reinstituting the draft.]

We should fire up the draft. There aren't enough troops to make it past 2008 as Bush says. The plan is there is no plan, so we need more raw meat for the fight.

Our troops have been to Iraq on to many tours as it is , if there were a draft many would not go just like vietnam , i know that because i was drafted , only 650 thousand honored the draft but over 15 million did not including
dick cheney, it is time for our troops that are active to say go to hell, we have been mislead as John MCCain finally came forward this week to say that, we should leave Iraq, i spent 2 tours in vietnam for what?? now we have men spending more then 2 tours in Iraq for what??? we should hold those accountable for misleading the people of the usa.

There is a reason military recruitment is at its lowest point in US history. NO one wants to serve in this illegal occupation orchestrated by the neo-cons. Just let them try and reinstate the draft. Just let them try.

oh, here we go again, blaming this on another administration! No, this is BUSH'S BABY

A draft is ok as long as there are no exceptions,no deferments allowed.Mandatory service for men and women like Israel does.
Not many people seem to get it that the propaganda spewed by ALL the media that we are being attacked because the terrorists hate our way of life is astounding to me.
Our foreign policy of taking sides (Israel)and arming the side we're on and shelling Muslim villages by the S.S.New Jersey as we did in Lebanon in 83 under Reagan leading to the marine barracks bombing in Beirut and the death of 241 marines is one example.
If the politicians had a personal stake in the wars they ok such as a loved one having to serve perhaps most wars could be prevented through negotiatio.
I would love to see Barbara and Jenna Bush in uniform.

The lack of a draft, along with the refusal
to violate political correctness for purposes of screening airline passengers, proves that the so-called "war on terror" is not the
desperate struggle for survival that Bush and his supporters would have us believe.
Obviously this is just an exercise in seeing how far the President can push his authority without meeting resistance and a draft would immediately end the "war on terror" in the same way the Viet Nam war ended.

A draft is slavery, you can’t get around that. It’s nothing to do with freedom or defending freedom. Especially so today, it’s about fulfilling an insane clique at the top of the U.S government (The Neo Cons) lust for expansion the American empire. They outlined it in PNAC, ‘The Project for the New American Century’.

Great. A draft. For a "war" that we were lied into. There's a troop shortfall because not many people are dumb enough to die for a barrel of oil.

How much blood is enough? Why waste more lives and treasure? What a complete and utter disaster this war has been. Lets back up a few years in time and look at what we would have had if we hadn't gone into Iraq: 500 BILLION dollars...10 billion per state. Do you think that money would be better spent on our crumbling infrastructure or our national debt?

Or should we just pour it into the sand like the blood of our brave soldiers that have died for a lie.

Its such a colossal waste that it makes me wonder why there is not a mob of angry people in front of the white house with torches.