Defend Decision Against the U.S. Draft Against Essay

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Defend Decision Against the U.S. Draft

Against the Draft

The United States is still in the midst of a harsh and unrelenting conflict in both Iraq and Afghanistan. As out forces continue to struggle, many within the United States have begun advocating the need to reinstate the military conscription known as the draft as a way to increase the variety and number of troops serving in today's contemporary military structure. However, these arguments prove to be problematic, and it is clear that reinstating the draft would not properly diversify the military, and would rather only subjugate American men from enjoying the freedom of choice -- an essential element to the freedom so many fight and die for.

The American military draft was a practice of the Select Service System. According to the research, "For more than 50 years, Selective Service and the registration requirement for America's young men have served as a backup system to provide manpower to the U.S. Armed Forces," (Powers, 2010, p 1). The draft as we know of it today was started by then president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 in order to increase the number of service members in the military during one of the United States most prolific wars, World War II (Selective Service System, 2011). The president drafted the Selective Training and Selective Service Act in order to ensure the American military had the numbers it needed to overthrow the axis powers. From 1948 to 1973, the draft was used as a mandatory way to "fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means," (Powers, 2010, p 1). The draft was done in a lottery where birthdates were chosen and then all registered men born on those days were then brought into military service (Selective Service System, 2009).

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However, the draft ended in 1973, which essentially converted the American military to an all-voluntary one (Selective Service System, 2011). Nowadays, the draft is not longer a likely occurrence for most American men. However, all males in the United States ages 18 to 25 must still register for the draft (Powers 2010). Penalties of not doing so include up to a $250,000 fine and also exclusion from federal employment positions, and even federal financial aid. Registering for selective service is also a requirement of citizenship (Selective Service System, 2011). This system still in place makes it possible to reinstate the draft, which has created a fierce argument within current American politics.

Those who support the reinstatement of the draft often cite the following arguments as why it is both necessary and beneficial. The draft ensures that all are sacrificing in order to protect the liberties we all enjoy. George Washington was quoted as saying "it must be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free government owes not only a proportion of his property, but even his personal service to the defense of it," (Gill, 2010, p 3). Having a voluntary military forces a greater burden on a fewer number of Americans, and the draft will help redistribute that burden to a greater breadth of Americans. An additional argument for the presence of a draft system is the concept that it will include upper class recruits….....

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