Reply #5: Nixon and the draft [View All]

Many years ago I was on an advisory committee regarding the draft. The committee I was part of (there were fifty or so across the US) came to the conclusion that there was no way to reform the draft short of shutting it down altogether.

Imagine my surprise when a couple of us were called out to Ft Knox to take part in a national conference on the subject, and trotted around like pet ponies by the Nixon folks. That was when it hit us that Tricky wanted to eliminate the draft as much as we did, if not for the same reasons.

Subsequently, we wound up with a volunteer army, etc., etc. but the arguments against the draft were valid then, and they're valid now.

There is no way to conduct a fair draft that doesn't discriminate against the poor and minorities. It can't be done.

The volunteer military may attract kids who come from poverty backgrounds, etc., but at least they are free to say yes or no. In an imperfect world, that's about as good as I think we can get.