Does John McCain Favor a Draft?
Exchange in Los Crucas Taken Out of Context
According to the Atlantic, John McCain recently had a conversation with a woman in Los Crucas, New Mexico, who was concerned about the plight of veterans. The woman said, in part:
"My son is an officer in the Air Force, I'm a vet, and I was raised in a military family. And I think it's a sorry state of affairs. When we have illegal aliens; having a medic-aid card that can access specialists, top physicians, the best of medical, and our vets can't even get to a doctor. And these are the people that we tied yellow ribbons for and Bush patted on the back. If we don't re-enact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of Hell."
To which Senator John McCain replied, "Ma'am let me say that I don't disagree with anything you have said and thank you."
Aha! exclaim John McCain's opponents. John McCain supports a return to a military draft!
Typical in the left wing blogosphere is this reaction in the Huffington Post. "After a long question about veterans' care, the questioner said she believed we needed to reinstate the draft, to which McCain seemed to readily agree." Others drag out the calumny of John McCain wanting to fight a hundred year war in Iraq. Obviously that will require a large army of draftees, they suggest.
However even a cursory reading of the exchange suggests that Senator John McCain was focusing on the body of the question, that being about the problems faced by veterans, and not on the call for a return of a military draft at the end. The accusation that McCain favors a draft is to take the exchange out of context.
John McCain has, in fact, been a firm defender of an all volunteer force and an opponent of a return to a military draft, as suggested in this video. McCain has pointed out that the necessities of modern war, with the requirements of training and such, require an Army of long term, volunteer servicemen and women. Besides, the all volunteer force, comprised of people who arte willing to serve, is of far better quality than a draft army filled with unwilling young men snatched up by an unfair selective service system from their civilian lives.
The irony of the accusation is that the loudest voices calling for a return to a military draft are coming from far left Democrats such as Congressmen John Murtha and Charles Rangel. Their concern is not the use of a draft to fill up a large enough army to fight the world wide war on terror. Draft proponents want the exact opposite, to make fighting wars more difficult since they would be fought by unwilling draftees.
The whole idea of accusing John McCain is transparently desperate.
Sources: Does McCain Favor a Draft? Nope, Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, August 20th, 2008
McCain On Bringing Back Draft: "I Don't Disagree", The Huffington Post, August 20th, 2008
McCain said no to draft in NH, Eyeon08.com, May 30th, 2007
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
- Heritage Foundation: CBO Weighs in on All-Volunteer Military The Heritage Foundation has published a new web memo examining a CBO report on the all-volunteer military
-
Loyalist Volunteer Force
Terrorism is not just an American or Middle Eastern problem, terrorism is a world-wide plague. The events of 9-11 focused the world on this epidemic and have caused the interna...
- A Military Draft May Not Be a Bad Thing! Take a look back a generation or two - how can we say the reinstatment of the Draft would be a bad thing??
- How Would a Military Draft Change American Society in the New Millennium? The article explores the changes that renewing the draft will have on modern society by reflecting on how it affected previous generations.
- The Air Force Pararescueman Creed is "That Others May Live" The PJs earned more decorations per capita than any other Air Force unit in Vietnam.
- McCain Draft Position: Wavering, Evolving, or Pandering?
- Will the Military Draft Return?
- Senator John McCain Heroically Grants a Dying Mother Her Final Wish
- Senator John McCain Admits to Screwing Up when He Lied to David Letterman About Sk...
- Will John McCain Choose Sarah Palin as Running Mate?
- Military Draft FAQ
- Rangel Posing Military Draft a Mistake
|
|
- 10 things you need to know today: February 11, 2012 (The Week)
- Grammy Awards preview: Top 5 reasons to watch (The Week)
- No Fun Allowed: L.A. Beaches Ban Footballs, Frisbees, and Sand Digging (ContributorNetwork)
- Good day, bad day: February 10, 2012 (The Week)
- Obama's birth control compromise: 'Still unacceptable'? (The Week)
5 Comments
Post a CommentAs an even-minded lefty, I agree that the claim is sort of silly. Nonetheless, McCain should flatly reiterate his stance. Opinions can change, and his positions on Iraq, Georgia, and Iran would make more sense if we did have a draft (of course, a pro-draft would also spell the end of his campaign for President). I suspect he is still against a draft.
What does it matter? He's gonna lose anyway. Obama-Biden 2008
Well said. I just finished reading an article eager to point out McCain's "inconsistency" about the draft. I have yet to see anything inconsistent with his stance. Not that it matters, we have plenty of folks eager to enlist. When I left the Air Force 3 years ago, they were downsizing.
Fact: McCain wants to expand forces to hunt Bin Laden in Pakistan/Afganistan, while keeping troops in Iraq, meaning a need for more troops.
Fact: The military is having trouble recruiting.
Fact: McCain, as he proved recently by suggesting Russia to be removed from the G8 and his support for a missile "defense" system in Europe, is a hawk. He acts swiftly and aggressively (as he proved by being a one of the biggest supporters of the war in Iraq, and the surge), rather than using diplomacy and war as a last resort only when absolutely necessary.
.
Fact: More wars + less volunteers = need for draft.
McCain had also previously said that he was not in favor of off-shore drilling, and has changed his opinion on several other issues.
Given the current state of affairs and McCain's own dedication to the war, I wouldn't put it past him to enact the draft.
Fact is, McCain still said he agreed with what the woman had said. If he's against the draft, he merely has to come out definitively and say that it will absolutely not happen.
Mark, the facts that McCain has stood AGAINST a reinstatement of the draft doesn't play well to the left blogosphere, hence their spreading of a rumor. Truth and the radical Left are not remotely acquainted. Nice job!