LOL! Sure ...
Rumsfeld says this morning -- "there will never be a draft, that's not cost-effective". He's quick, he's the Robin Williams of politics.
That all sounds reasonable, a professional army, less turnover, etc., except the fact is conscripted armies are paid a fraction of the professional army, and its obvious to everyone that for true defense of this country in the homeland it makes much more sense to follow the Swiss example and have service for everyone between 17 and 50 a couple weeks a year, to learn what to look for in neighborhood terrorism, how to react, get fit, and understand military issues rather than being buffaloed.
That's a political problem tho', it gets people together, and you want "push-button warfare" and don't want to risk another Vietnam protest situation... Gov't is taking on a life of its own, the goal of political leaders is to eliminate citizen representation, either in elections and the military. No empire has ever succeeded in offensive expansion with citizen soldiers.
It's quite natural that the political and corporate leadership like the "Royal Guard" type military -- it protects them from sending themselves or their kids, and in a pinch the military can be turned against the civilian population to "quell uprisings", perhaps like the upcoming tax revolt in '04...
New slogan for Washington: "Representation without Taxation" |
