They're Coming For Your Children

"The air is thick with signs that a serious effort to reinstate the draft will occur sometime in 2006 – most likely in a "lame duck" session of Congress following mid-term elections.

"The plan envisions requiring all 18-year-olds – of both sexes – to serve 1–2 year terms of mandatory service, either in the military, homeland security, or in a federal program like AmeriCorps, as a condition of being permitted to attend college.

"Who's to stop this from happening? The mothers of America, that's who. Are you a mother disinclined to see your sons –and daughters– used as mortar bait?....

See Also: The Case for the Draft
"A 21st-century draft like this would create a cascading series of benefits for society. It would instill a new ethic of service in that sector of society, the college-bound, most likely to reap the fruits of American prosperity.

"Even if only 10 percent of the one-million young people who annually start at four-year colleges and universities were to choose the military option, the armed forces would receive 100,000 fresh recruits every year.

It would mobilize an army of young people for vital domestic missions, such as helping a growing population of seniors who want to avoid nursing homes but need help with simple daily tasks like grocery shopping." [more]