Bush's = backdoor draft another sign of strain

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Bush's backdoor draft another sign of strain

Palm Beach Post Editorial

Saturday, August 26, 2006

The country did away with the draft 33 years ago, but President Bush = has=20 brought it back - without the trappings of debate or conscription - = through the=20 White House back door.

Last week, the president authorized the Marine Corps to recall as = many as=20 2,500 inactive reserves at a time to reinforce the 138,000 troops in = Iraq, and=20 also those in Afghanistan. About 14,000 inactive Army reservists already = have=20 gotten the involuntary call-up notice. As recently as two months ago, = Pentagon=20 leaders were talking about drawing down U.S. forces and beginning to = turn over=20 control to the Iraqi army. Like so many other of the administration's = plans for=20 the Iraq War, reducing the U.S. military presence hasn't gone anything = like it=20 was supposed to go.

More from = Opinion

=95=20 Sound=20 off in the blog
=95 Columnists
=95=20 = Editorials/Letters
=95 = Don=20 Wright=20 = cartoons

The involuntary call-ups will affect people who believed they had = completed=20 their military service. Many of them will leave families and careers = behind for=20 at least a second time because of the Bush administration's = miscalculations.=20 Also, the Pentagon's implementation of stop-loss policies will keep at = least=20 10,000 soldiers in Iraq indefinitely. U.S. forces are stretched to the = limit to=20 serve in the cross hairs of a civil war that the White House never saw = coming=20 and has no strategy for quelling. A telling indicator of how poorly = things are=20 going in Iraq is the administration's inability - despite a desperate = desire to=20 win political points - to bring home token numbers of troops to stem = criticism=20 before the November election.

The switch to the all-volunteer military three decades ago was = predicated on=20 the theory that the nation would fight short wars using overwhelming = force.=20 There was no contemplation of a large-scale occupation as in Iraq. = Neither was=20 there contemplation of using the Army for nation-building or separating = factions=20 in a civil war. The country turned to the all-volunteer military = believing we=20 had had our Vietnam, learned from it and would not have another. = President Bush=20 and his neoconservative civilian policymakers missed that lesson.

The president's backdoor draft will take a toll on recruiting quotas = and=20 invite misconduct from rogue recruiters whose strong-arm tactics and = abusive=20 behavior have drawn congressional attention. The House Armed Services = Committee=20 is considering tougher penalties for sexual misconduct by recruiters = after=20 finding out the Pentagon disciplined 80 of them last year for abuses = against=20 potential enlistees.

Americans thought they'd never see their military more stressed than = it was=20 after leaving Vietnam. But President Bush seems intent on turning the = clock back=20 30 years.

Bush's backdoor draft another sign of strain

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