Will USA Re-Introduce Draft?
By Sasha Uzunov

Reality Macedonia, Macedonia
Dec 22 2004

In recent weeks we have heard of the growing number of United States
military personnel deserting or threatening to sue their government
unless it stops extending their tours of duty in Iraq. It seems the
US military is having problems with manpower. Could it be possible
the Bush Administration will re-introduce the draft, conscription?

Scott Taylor, Canada’s foremost war correspondent and ex-Canadian
soldier, believes so.

“The invasion has left American soldiers and generals overworked and
at risk in the midst of an enraged Iraqi population, and citizens at
home all but certain to face a draft after the November presidential
election to shore up a mission they were told would be over in six
months,” he said.

Mr Taylor has been to Iraq over twenty times and in September of this
year was taken hostage and tortured by Iraqi militants for five days,
before being released.

The Iraq war was supposed to be short, sharp and sweet. US Defence
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was telling the world of his “shock and awe”
strategy by using a small and mobile force to knock over the Saddam
regime. But it has been nearly two years since the US ousted the
Iraqi dictator and is still battling to mop up the insurgency. In fact
Washington has realised that it needs more men to secure the “peace.”

The US Armed Forces are a volunteer professional force bolstered by
National Guard or reservists on full time service. President Nixon
abolished the draft at the tail end of the Vietnam War (1962-72),
a divisive conflict in American society.

Pundits have been quick to draw parallels between the quagmire of
Vietnam, which dragged on for a decade, and Iraq. But Iraq is more
like a disintegrating Yugoslavia of the early 1990s.

In Vietnam, 60,000 Americans lost their lives. That means 6,000
were being killed a year. So far in 18 months, US deaths in Iraq are
over 1200.

But will the Bush Administration have the political will to
re-introduce the draft? And will mainstream America accept such a
decision? Will the youth of that country comply with the call up? Is
it fair for politicians such as President George Bush and his cabinet
members, many who did not fight in Vietnam, to be sending others to
war? Ironically, the only warrior is outgoing US Secretary of State,
General Colin Powell, who served in Vietnam and was opposed to the
Iraqi adventure. Conversely, is it fair for only a small section of
society, the professional armed forces and reservists, to be carrying
the burden for the rest of society?

If the draft is introduced, will Australia follow? Militarily and
politically conscription is not needed by Australia at the moment.
Our commitment in Iraq is miniscule. It is highly improbable that
the Howard Coalition government would re-introduce National Service.
Conscription as an issue is too politically divisive.

How long is America prepared to stay in Iraq? History, and Vietnam in
particular, demonstrates that the US military has trouble fighting a
counter-insurgency or anti-guerrilla war. Can the US secure victory?
And what kind of victory will it be?

Iraq reminds me of the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, both
communist federations consisting of various competing ethnic groups.
Both of these nations lasted about 70 years before fragmenting
violently into a multitude of new nation states in the early 1990s.

Iraq is a hodge-podge consisting of an ethnic Arab majority, many
of whom are Shiite or Sunni Muslim. A very small number are Arab
Christians. Add to this mixture, millions of Sunni Muslim Kurds and
Turkmans in the north of the country. Kurds are non-Arabs, whilst the
Turkmans are closely related to the Turks. Not forgetting the Assyrian
Christians, who were the original inhabitants of Iraq before being
swamped by an Islamic Arab invasion in 637 AD, more than 1300 years
ago. There are also tiny numbers of ethnic Christian Armenians, and
two little known sects, the Sabia, who worship water, and the Yazidi,
mistakenly referred to as “devil worshipers.”

Iraq has Yugoslavia written all over it. Can such a country survive
intact? Can the west, in particular the United States-lead coalition
of the willing, hold it all together? Would it be better to partition
Iraq as a long-term solution?

So many question. Only time will tell. As the old Chinese curse goes:
“may you live in interesting times!”

Sasha Uzunov is a freelance journalist who has covered the Balkans
region and is an ex-Australian soldier who served in East Timor.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress