I'm curious......why shouldn't women be drafted too?

[Peanutsdad]

I have refrained from really replying in this thread prior to now,, with the exception waaaaay at the top in response.

First of all, I see a lot of people fel very strongly one way or the other about this.

How many of you have been in combat? How many of you have had to bag and tag some of the finest men you will ever know in your life?

How many have had to fire a weapon at another human being? and then live with it afterwards?

How many of you have been sent to the hospital following being shot by "force or forces unknown"?

From most of the replies,, I can see, not very many. Yes you are entitled to your opinion, BUT forming an opinion without knowledge is a very dangerous thing to do. It leads to the sort of things we have mesmerized young men with thru out human history. That there is Glory and Honor to be had in war. There isnt. It's just death and dying. Some of the most horrible painful wounds being inflicted and being endured. Grown men lying in the dirt screaming for someone to make it stop, shittin thier own pants .

THAT is what the draft, selective service, war ect is all about. Who can anyone advocate sending any human being into that except by the most dire need?

I dont want my children to ever learn the lessons war teaches. I dont want any young man OR woman to learn it either.

Do I think ALL 18 yr olds should have to register for the selective service? No, so long as manpower needs are met by volunteers.

JMHO.

[KND]

I'm guessing you mean selective service, and I don't see any reason why they (we) shouldn't be required to register. After all, gender equality should apply to the federal government too.

Then again, we don't get to run the world (just yet anyways!)

KND

[StPaulieGirl]

Thank you!

[Davy]

Just what I thought..the truth hurts.

Not a comment .... a fact.  

I surmised your likes but you did not finish the sentence ... knees...in front of my .....

You have shown yourself to be a true sicko...not only a waste of key strokes but unworthy of rational intelligent communication.

No more posts.

[Peanutsdad]

I dont want honor SPG, nor recognition, nor any of the damn medals my country hung on my chest.

I want to not have to face my memories, I want to be able to undo some of the things I saw and did in service to my country. I want my friends lives back. None of you can give me those things, nor can our great country. So dont be so quick to jump on the lets send everyone to fight bandwagon.  I fight back now in the only way I can,, I save lives now, I work in medicine to stop this kind of insanity.

All those asking about whether its fair to only draft men, no, it isnt. To be honest tho, do you really want an entire generation of men AND women to go off to fight? There are physiological AND psychological differences between men and women. Regardless of the equal rights movement, we as genders are different.

Realizing what kind of issues it can bestow on the poor lucky bastages that go?

When the memories come back so strongly that you can FEEL it and SMELL it all again...ask a vet how he remembers if he smells avgas or jp4. Are these the things you all would like to see both parents of children to remember?

You look at your children and your heart just hammers away at the thought of them having to repeat your lessons in some foriegn land,, every fiber of your being screams out against that happening.


Looking at all the posts,, keep in mind folks,, be careful what you ask for,, you just might get.


Thank you SPG.


God bless all.

[sweetnsad]

You are absolutely right PD...and yes, it's obvious to see that 95% of the above posts are entirely opinion, not based on any actual experience with war...
I made myself clear on that point, that I am only 29 and have NO knowledge of war and it's devastating effects.   I neither know about it nor do I wish to know how it affects a family and loved ones.  I'm sorry for all those families that HAVE been affected by war.  It's a damn shame that young people like myself can never truly realize how lucky we are.
God Bless you as well.

[StPaulieGirl]

I should have perhaps rephrased my reply to you.  I only meant to agree with you 100%.

My dad served in France during WWII, in communications.  He never said a lot about the experience while I was growing up, but when I had my first baby, he talked about it one day.  I guess having a baby meant I was old enough to hear about our French "allies".  He would never talk about what he saw in Germany.

In a perfect world, no one would have to go to war.  There wouldn't be Saddam Hussein feeding people into woodchippers, Kim Il Jong starving North Korea to death, Palestinians blowing themselves and scores of Israelis to smithereens.  The African continent wouldn't be burdened by the likes of Charles Taylor, Moammar Qaddafi, or the Mandelas.

I used to subscribe to a strict isolationist view regarding the rest of the world.  I voted for Pat Buchanan.  One day I had a conversation with someone who pointed out the God has blessed America, and we have a responsibility to help people who are oppressed.  I wish we could do it without anyone getting shot.

I still believe that if men have to register for selective services, then so should women...in the interests of fairness and diversity.  Hey, think about it.  The best ones could turn that 2 yr tour into a job with law enforcement or border patrol (we're really shorthanded there).  Of course we can count on the socialist school system to sandbag the whole thing.

Take care and have a good day, PD :-)

[StPaulieGirl]

Well yesterday is gone, and I'm now in the mood to deal with you.

As usual your post was filled with lies, manipulations, attempts at creating division, false accussations, OT matters, harrazzing, provoking, etc, etc etc.

[p]You still refuse to consider 'the draft' as involuntary servitude even though you were not there and were a little little girl still trying to learn the alphabet at the time.

[p]Now you say you find it very offensive that some fled to Canada to avoid the draft. It is somewhat inconceivable among decent people for anyone to make the comment in the first place and then quickly reverse yourself in such a short time frame.

[p]"Clinton" ... why on earth bring forth such a name ...in matters resulting in many deaths and disabilities, emotional pain and suffering to so many.

[p]According to you I should be a politician.  

[p]  Of course I refuse to consider "the draft" as involuntary servitude.  I don't think it's cool that rich white kids got to somehow buy their way out of it, however.  This little girl was already winning spelling bees in parochial school in '69. I learned the alphabet in 1st grade.

[p]Yes, I do find it offensive that some folks fled to Canada, don't you?  I reversed myself?  How did I do that?  Bill Clinton simply went AWOL, but I guess that's ok.  He's too bleepin' precious to get his ass shot off for Uncle Sam.  Btw, Clinton IS responsible for matters resulting in many deaths, disabilities, emotional  pain and suffering.  Ron Brown and Vince Foster ring a bell?  How about Juanita Broderick?

[p]And you say there are vets that want to get it out usually after a six pack and / or a joint... please please don't reguritate the made-for-TV version. Try to understand all the ramifications of those years the draft was in place. You may get a gimpse if you visited a military or VA hospital today then muliplied by thousands. Go visit a mother or father whose son was drafted and never returned then go find somebody that filled out a postcard but was never called. You may be very surprised !!

[p]Yes I do say that there are vets who want to get things off their chests.  Lots of people do.  Pot and alcohol tends to loosen the tongue.  Yes Davy, you're too pure for that.  Yeah you're special.  I just don't want to mention a personal loss when I'm posting to an asshole, but I'm very well aware of losing loved ones.

[p]And then you throw in the following :
"I meant no disrespect, and you know it Davy. If I were a male you wouldn't even make an issue over my comments. Another one of the unwritten rules of society, is to hide your prejudice and hatred, and either ignore or address the issues at hand....regardless of the posters sex, race, creed, or academic credentials. Can you do that? "

[p]..you have no standing to define me or anyone else. I certainly can and do stand on my own merits alongside any de-merits most of which I am proud. I certainly do not have to justify myself but just last night I was in the home of an ex-Marine with his Chinese wife trying to get him to put on his chaps and do his gay thing sitting next to one of my best black friends and across the table from his Hispanic wife. On the other side of me was my white OBGYN (reserve colonel) and his white wife.
[p]The Colonel does a great impression of oatmeal with his face. My sons are both bilinqual and I have two black grand children. At least two present had not graduated from high school. My friends are pretty much equally divided between female and males. Since you think you know so much would you like to take a wild ass guess at my sex, race, creed or academic credentials. I've had no sex change operations (and never will) so you might get one right. Otherwise, I have friends in very low places with high egoes and very high places with very low egoes...just like me on any given day.

[p]Well I guess you can't.  Thanks for posting about your lively personal life, though.  Tell me, is this the same Colonel who had his strawberries stolen from him, or maybe he's the one who loves the smell of napalm in the morning.  Is the Colonel's oatmeal impression before or after cocktails?  I'm frankly surprised that you have friends, but then again I'm picky about who I hang around with.

I surmised your likes but you did not finish the sentence ... knees...in front of my .....

[p]You have shown yourself to be a true sicko...not only a waste of key strokes but unworthy of rational intelligent communication.
[p]Of course your referrence to me giving my bf fellatio makes you one of the greatest communicators on the internet.  Not to mention one of the most intelligent men online.  So charming, too....

[p]No more posts may ass.  You're so bitter and twisted you won't leave it alone.  Isn't it time for your buddy to get his chaps on so you all can play Lone Ranger?  Do you play the horse or Tonto?

[Peanutsdad]

 SPG, please dont think Im crackin on you,, I most certainly am not.

England once thought they had a "duty" to "save" the rest of the world, so did France, as did Spain.

All the major civilized countries at one time or another had decided they knew what was best for others, as America does now. The problem with this is there are ALWAYS those in power that see that kind of atitude as an opportunity and they capitalolize on it, usually to the detriment of others. Young people are fed the honor and duty BS line, and off they go.

The end result is typically, many young people dead, the survivors scarred for life, in more ways than one, and a few get rich and powerful.

Ever hear,, "If I knew then what I know now"......

I think it applies to this topic very well. I advise any 18 yr old,, burn that damn card. Dont go,, let the old fekkers that give the orders go and fight,, hell its THEIR fight anyhow.

Should groups known or unknown make war on our shores( 9-11), ASK for volunteers, hunt the responsible parties down, and exterminate them.

Make it mandatory? For all? No,, I say it now and a thousand times,, NO. In answer to the topic at hand, IF it is to be mandatory, make it so for all. Then perhaps we get some good use out of NOW,, once they see what it all about, perhaps they would turn their political aims to abolishing such an abomination.

"War is the extension of politics when diplomacy has failed"....how many polisci grads do we have? I know you have heard this. This simple statement does not even come close to awful truth of war.

For years, I would not discuss this, until I decided I was not going to become my father. I remember when I came home for convelesence leave after being released from the hospital,, my father looked at me and with a almost sad smile, he said " Now you understand". That is the most he has ever said about his time in the service.

[StPaulieGirl]

I don't think you're cracking on me, PD.  It's just you and I think a little differently on the subject, with good reason on your part.

Someone, and I can't remember who, said all we've ever asked for was enough ground to bury our dead.  This was in response to the screaming about American "imperialism".  That's the difference between us, England, Spain, and France.  Hahaha, France.  I'm probably wrong, but I will attribute this to Gen. Patton who supposedly said, " I'd rather have the Germans in front of me, than the French behind me".  The French haven't done anything.  Google up French military victories.  England and Spain were into grabbing as much territory for themselves.  Ohhh waiiit.  Guess who bailed on VietNam, before we arrived to save their butts?  The @#$$%#French...again.

I think we should stick to a volunteer force, but an idea would be for every elible 18 yr old citizen to sign up for a couple of years and be trained.  After the 2 yrs are up, the military could "invite" the best to reinlist.  These troops shouldn't be put in combat situations after a measly 6 weeks of boot camp.  This society doesn't exactly breed discipline or respect for authority, imo that is crucial for an army.  You this might be a good way to take care of our own young citizens.  Make it so that they get priority over "guest workers"(formerly known as illegals) for any job when they complete their 2 years.  They can get priority for college spots, etc.  We need to worry about our kids if this guest worker thing passes.  Heck, we need to worry about our jobs.

You don't want to go with hired guns, though.  Mercenaries have been known to be effective, but we don't want America associated with some of those people.  I don't think the draft is a good idea.  It's not fair, for one thing.  Too many rich kids got around it, sending the poor kids overseas.  

I've done a little reading on Viet Nam, and imo it was a huge mistake for us to go over there.  I was more into WWII and Czarist Russia growing up.

What war did your dad serve in?