The usual debate you hear these days on a return to the draft is between conservatives who think it would be a good idea because it would be a unifying force in the country and liberals who don't particularly like the military culture. This, from Thomas Sowell, is a viewpoint I haven't heard before. He's a conservative against the draft because he thinks it would pollute the military, the last instituion left willing to sacrifice for a higher cause, with a bunch of spoiled brats who have been educated to hate the country:
Just getting such people used to the idea of duty and discipline could be a major drain on the military, not to mention a plague of lawsuits from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union if the little darlings were not handled with kid gloves.
I don't know if I agree with that point or not. I was in the Army when there was a vigorous mix of enlistees and draftees, and the military's chain-of-command procedures seemed to sort it all out and meld us into cohesive units. But perhaps he's right that today's civilian population has changed too much to be forced into the military life. I do know that the way my drill instructor talked and behaved would get him hauled before a court martial these days.
Sowell makes one point that rings true with me. Today's politicians and journalists, unlike those of the recent past, have mostly no military experience, and it shows in the discussions and debates about our foregin policy options. The amount of sheer ignorance about the military life is nothing less than appalling.
