CV and mad panic behaviour

[Mav]

Aint that the truth. Remember Malcolm Moore interviewing Republican Senators, during their pro 'go get 'em' strategies for the Middle East wars, if their sons and daughters were being sent to fight? Crickets and tumbleweeds.

Drafts are actually a pretty good way of forcing politicians to confront the possibility of losing loved ones when deciding whether to go to war. If your only son might be drafted and killed, maybe you’ll be less gung-ho about going to war. And the sort of protests that erupted when the draft was used in the Vietnam War is feared.

But that’s only the case when the draft can’t be dodged by the rich and powerful and as we know that’s not the way it works. Trump’s Daddy somehow managed to get a doctor to certify that little Donnie was unfit to serve in Vietnam because of heel spurs. Donnie claimed afterwards they just disappeared on their own even though that’s medically impossible. George Dubya was drafted but his Daddy managed to ensure he saw out his service stateside in the national guard. I’d imagine a lot of draftees who ended up in cushy posts sitting behind a desk had connections.

In Australia, IIRC uni students could defer being drafted and back then uni students paid full fees unless they had scholarships. The rich were well-placed to ensure their dim witted progeny could enrol in someuni course.

The US Supreme Court was recently asked to rule that drafts should apply to both males and females but refused to do so. I’d imagine conservatives weren’t happy with the optics of a High School Prom Queen coming back from a war minus a leg or otherwise disfigured.

During the Gulf Wars, the US was able to avoid a draft by mobilising reservists and former military personnel. Those poor bastards were often from disadvantaged backgrounds and had only been lured into joining to gain access to lower cost education and the like.