Reply #26: Not sure it was prescience. IMO, the PNAC-minded of both parties [View All]

[No Elephants]

had to have been working on abolishing the draft for the reason stated--less public opposition to US wars where our position was not as clearly on the side of the angels (or whomever) as it had been in WWII.

The actual vote abolishing the draft was in 1973, but I'd bet something that monumental, and that relevant to national security, had to have been in the works for years before 1973.

They were right about the result of an all volunteer military: less opposition/interest from the public. Which is why we can now be in two wars for 8 years now with barely a mention in the nightly national news, let alone frequent demonstrations across the nation.

Washington, D.C. does not want ordinary folk deciding when and why we go to war and when we finally turn off the light at he end of the tunnel. (That job "rightly" belongs to generals, not the general public. :sarcasm: Trouble is, generals always seem to "vote" for sending more troops.)

Obama seems to be considering cutting into that (as to our continuing occupation of Afghanistan, anyway). If so, I wish him well. More than enough damage has been done by our invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and the adverse consequences will not end for generations.