WASHINGTON (AP) -- Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan
have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return
to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.
"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas
Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things
Considered."
"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But
ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the
nation's security by one means or another," said Lute, who is sometimes
referred to as the "Iraq war czar." It was his first interview since he was
confirmed by the Senate in June.
President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973. Restoring it, Lute said, would
be a "major policy shift" and Bush has made it clear that he doesn't think
it's necessary.
"The president's position is that the all-volunteer military meets the needs
of the country and there is no discussion of a draft. Gen. Lute made that
point as well," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
In the interview, Lute also said that "Today, the current means of the
all-volunteer force is serving us exceptionally well."
Still, he said the repeated deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan affect not
only the troops but their families, who can influence whether a service
member decides to stay in the military.
"There's both a personal dimension of this, where this kind of stress plays
out across dinner tables and in living room conversations within these
families," he said. "And ultimately, the health of the all-volunteer force
is going to rest on those sorts of personal family decisions."
The military conducted a draft during the Civil War and both world wars and
between 1948 and 1973. The Selective Service System, re-established in 1980,
maintains a registry of 18-year-old men.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, has called for reinstating the draft as a
way to end the Iraq war.
Bush picked Lute in mid-May as a deputy national security adviser with
responsibility for ensuring efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are coordinated
with policymakers in Washington. Lute, an active-duty general, was chosen
after several retired generals turned down the job.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/10/war.adviser.draft.ap/index.html
--------------------------------------------------
Can't imagine why several retired generals turned down the job, can you?
Independent
.
|
