The Draft

            
             As war looms ahead, the youth of America feels that a draft may be in order. Some feel that if such a draft were to be instated they would find alternate means to avoid the draft. Talk of moving to Canada, joining colleges avoiding the draft, and many other scams to avoid having to go to war. Now, a draft now is highly unlikely. Yet a draft has been considered a "bad" thing. People think it is wrong to call upon you without your consent to fight in the Army. If such a draft existed now, what would the reaction of the U.S. populous be? Drafting has been thought of as a bad thing, but when you look at the facts and you consider reason, drafting is a very good way to keep us out of trouble.
             At the beginning of 1941 the U.S. Army had 1,460,998 men in their ranks. By the time the U.S. declared victory over the Axis forces in 1945 the U.S. had over 8,266,373 men enlisted. No one can deny that the United States involvement in the war led to the victory over Japan and Germany. The United States issued a draft starting at the beginning of 1941. As soon as the forces of America were large enough, we devastated the Axis powers. Now some think that having the draft was uncalled for, and that we had plenty of men to fight for the Army all ready, yet at the beginning of the war America had less men in their ranks then Germany and Japan had. Instating the draft proved to be very successful and led to countless victories and enough men to keep the battle in our favor. It is not likely that the world would be the same today had America not instated the draft.
             Now that war with Iraq is getting close and many people feel that the war could start any day, questions of reinstating the draft have come up. During the Gulf War the U.S. had 540,000 troops involved, only half of which actually experienced combat situations. Right now America has 1.4 million troops in its service and already 250,000 troops are awaiting combat orders on the borders of Iraq.