[dead]

Patriotic and educated young Americans who want to serve in the military are available. We need to stop academia from sabotaging national defense by blocking them from R.O.T.C. and from even hearing what military representatives have to say.

That's one step. Also, a significant increase in military pay will help bring in qualified fence-sitters.

A draft would be a disaster, as Sowell notes. The absolute worst idea possible.

[mtbopfuyn]

We happened to stop by a row of newspaper stands yesterday and I commented on the headlines of the Qana disaster/scam/whatever. Every eye in the mom taxi glazed over. I can only imagine if the war came here or these kids were drafted....

[RexBeach]

Nothing like having an army full of folks who don't want to be there. Not a good idea.

[GSlob]

"A draft would be a disaster, as Sowell notes. The absolute worst idea possible."
Well, the drill instructors are probably the only ones who could reeducate the products of PC-infested schools. In this aspect the draft would [IF the drill instructors were not very busy as it is, and IF there were enough of them] be best thing imaginable.

[nina0113]

I'd like to see everyone go through Basic Training, or some variant thereof, as a prerequisite to voter registration. If you don't care enough about your country to learn the tiniest crumb of last-ditch defense, then you shouldn't have any say in how it's run.

[gafusa]

Yes, because conscript armies generally fight terribly. Massive desertions, they will normally run to save their lives, over standing and fighting. A volunteer army, unless completely outnumbered and outgunned, will pretty much always smash through a conscript army with no trouble.