Conscription
I think Cliff is missing the point. He may have a valid point from the point of defense, but we don’t use our military exclusively (or even primarily) for defense. Once the argument isn’t about defending the boarders it becomes significantly more difficult to justify conscription.
Without the notion of defending the country all the pithy quotes about defending freedom and liberty get reduced to meaningless rhetoric.
We have a voluntary military that in this political climate is sufficient to keep the borders secure to the level that we feel comfortable. There are no credible threats that an increased conscripted citizen army would counter. An increased military doesn’t protect us from terrorism, Intelligence and our current military strength is sufficient.
I don’t see the government’s authority to conscript people to fight overseas (i.e. in a non-defensive situation) That appears to be a political decision that each soldier should have the ability to make for themselves. I’m not talking about giving soldier’s the ability to veto commanding officers, if you voluntarily sign up, you understand the risks and benefits of such action. That is a voluntary support of a policy which is different from being conscripted.
–Zafkiel