Mandatory Military Service

[PopNFresh]

shouldn't even jump in this.......

if jakeyjohn1 wants to learn about the other side of this, The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by Mearsheimer is a good start for how we got here. Netanyahu has been saying Iran is going nuclear for like 40 years and tried and failed to get every president in that time to invade Iran. from the outside I'd guess if Israel can destabilize the entire Middle East which is what they seem to want, every neighbor competing for power in complete disarray, they would control one of the most power areas of the globe for international trade and transport.

netanyahu may also, probably, be going to jail on corruption charges when they end their wars, his trial has been suspended for quite some time now because they're so busy blowing up other countries.So maintaining war benefits directly.

if you want a quicker run down of Iran maybe

https://thefactsaboutiran.com/

 

[SikaSeeker]

Keep it volunteer with no immigration attachments. I know for the most part it has worked out before but we dont want to give TDA citizenship while training them in combat arms. Its a small number I know but still. I dont have a problem rewarding a non citizen but not automatic citizenship.

As for Isreal, that's a touchy subject. I think its going 50/50 in the US on support for isreal.
I feel they have the right to defend themselves, but they do tend to go nuts but on the other hand, they have been fighting for decades and they are sick of it.
Isreal is the sticky issue with dealing with Iran. Iran will not stop funding hezbollah , hezbollah will still attack isreal and isreal will blow the shidt out of Lebanon.
Stalemate at its best

"They do tend to go nuts"

former US ambassador to Saudi Chas Freeman claimed 680,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct 7th. Others say 400k[Lancet medical journal 200k] which is line with a slip of the tongue Mr Trump made a while ago. Israel censors everything so we have no idea.

I dont think many Americans truly grasp how this one sided favour of Israel is impacting their image globally. Whatever truth of death toll it is biblical & the US gov is talking about moving them all out. Where do they go? Anywhere but Israel. Lots end up in Europe[& US] then Mr Vance has gall to whine about Islam taking over. People are sick of it.

 

[stan5677]

As a GWOT veteran who served under Bush 2 terrible idea.


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[stan5677]

Nah. We got the right staff currently that ensures we don’t lose squat.

What right staff?


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[stan5677]

The bottom line with the entire Iran issue is that they were months away from building a nuclear weapon. If you’re unhappy now with the bombing results, just think about how unhappy you would be if Trump did nothing and Iran had the bomb.

They’ve been months away for the past 40 years.


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[KenLee]

There are plenty of people that can earn a degree but have no business being officers. There needs to be criteria, officer or not. Simply put, some people are not cut out to be in the military.

Try harder

 

[KenLee]

I don't like to even think of 3/4 of the guys I went to HS and college with fighting next to me. I'd have to shoot most of them myself.

Probably true of 80% of those who sign up now

 

[KenLee]

During the Vietnam era, we had two year enlistments. It sorta worked because we needed bodies incountry, it was ok if they were marginally trained, it was a relatively low tech war, and the pay was low.

Now, the skills to operate weapons systems, even infantry weapons, is through the roof and the pay & benefits is comparable to the civilian workforce. And oh by the way, infantry survivability on the modern battlefield requires significant levels of skills, training, and technology based systems.

The days of lots of infantry serving as cannon fodder is long gone.

So what would these 2 year draftees do other than take up space and resources. Pretty minimal gain to lethality at a pretty considerable cost in dollars

Skin in the game

 

[KenLee]

Bro.
The movie was, and still is glorious.
I watched it last week.

Yea almost like assbeatings work better for childern than time out.

Almost??,

 

[Bubblehide]

Try harder

Aren't you the wordy one.

 

[KenLee]

Aren't you the wordy one.

2 military men who raised me taught me that lesson.

 

[ThorM465]

You realize that Heinlein wrote that book as a criticism of fascism, right?

You're confusing the author with the director of the movie.

Y'all realize that Starship Troopers was written as a warning, not an instruction manual?

You didn't read the book sir. FWIW you should, its a great book.

I was in the Marine Corps, GWOT era.

There was no shortage of turds (in my opinion) in any direction you looked, and those were all people that CHOSE to be there. They weren’t forced.

Change that dynamic and the fighting unit gets less and less effective. There would be more and more losers for everyone else to pull the weight of. The most effective military is the one in which everyone chose to be there.

I like the spirit of the idea, but it’s easy to forget that at the end of the day it is/can be an incredibly dangerous job in which you have to rely on others to keep you alive while you shoot people and get shot at for a meager paycheck.

Same here, brother, but I'd go the complete inverse. I firmly believe the bottom 15% of every bootcamp class should be sent home and there should be some limited avenue to quit during your first enlistment. I took every opportunity I got to rebel under the Orwellian control they had over us. I was at my best when quitting was on the table.

The bottom line with the entire Iran issue is that they were months away from building a nuclear weapon. If you’re unhappy now with the bombing results, just think about how unhappy you would be if Trump did nothing and Iran had the bomb.

Iran has been months away from the bomb for decades.

15 years ago, I'd would have been in full favor of bombing them to the stone age. Today, I honestly could care less if they got the bomb, it's no threat to my children. I'll be damned if my sons die for the most toxic relationship on the planet.

My opinion: Service equals Citizenship.

 

[Poser]

Philosophical consistency being the name of the game, I'm kinda curious what the "skin in the game" and "service = citizenship" crowd would think about the idea of supporting, speaking hypothetically of course, a presidential candidate who is known to have been a draft dodger.

 

[2531usmc]

They’ve been months away for the past 40 years.


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Willing to risk it?

 

[ThorM465]

Philosophical consistency being the name of the game, I'm kinda curious what the "skin in the game" and "service = citizenship" crowd would think about the idea of supporting, speaking hypothetically of course, a presidential candidate who is known to have been a draft dodger.

Illegitimate draft for another war we never should have been involved in. The draft should never be used to force men to die in overseas wars.

It's the GWOT Veterans who lost brothers and had their bodies destroyed due to Iran's involvement in Iraq. And it's the GWOT Veterans that are the most adamant opposition to sending this generation to die in Iran for our vengeance. So yea, Service equals Citizenship.

Semper Fi

Willing to risk it?

Yes, sir.

 

[Pulleye16]

I'd like to see it for anyone 21 years of age or lower that committed a crime (gross misdemeanor and below). The military would straighten them out!

 

[Poser]

Willing to risk it?

You'd have to take up a "I believe this and I don't believe that" position that is highly selective on what you choose to believe and choose to reject in order to get to the place where you can say, "I'm not willing to risk it." The irony is, if you view the administration as having a consistent monolithic position that flows from the pentagon through the whitehouse, you are both rejecting and accepting information from the same source in order to arrive at that position.

For example, you would have to first reject the Pentagon's own intelligence report regarding this matter: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pe...going-attack-us-first-sources-say-2026-03-02/

Then you would have to reject the administrations claim that the nuclear program has been successfully "obliterated" as of June 2025: https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/06/irans-nuclear-facilities-have-been-obliterated-and-suggestions-otherwise-are-fake-news/
If the program was obliterated, then one would presume that it is no longer a threat, even though it was originally stated that it was not a threat. So, we have a double confirmation "no threat" scenario, but, wait: It is still a threat.

Then you would need to believe the admin when they stated that there was in a threat after disbelieving that there wasn't a threat and then that threat that did not exist was obliterated anyway, but it is still apparently a threat. At that point, you can arrive at, "well, why risk it?"

 

[cmahoney]

I'd like to see it for anyone 21 years of age or lower that committed a crime (gross misdemeanor and below). The military would straighten them out!

As long as they have their own s bag battalions.


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[Coopsdaddy]

Think I heard that less than 1%-4% of our population is enlisted.
If all able bodied had to serve we would be better off.
The politicians/war mongers don’t have to answer to anyone.
If all Democrats and republicans kids had to server along side each other the decisions in Washington would be different because everyone has some skin in the game.
I have two teens and one 22 and wasn’t crazy about a draft and forcing them into these dumb ass wars but after listening to a few veterans spin it this way I agree.
We have 1% to think.
Think about that.No wonder our country’s going to shit.

 

[wind gypsy]

Last when Vance said (paraphrasing): "Israel should keep in mind that this administration is the only country in the world still sympathetic to their cause..." I was thinking that he just blindly walked right in that one -is no one not stopping to ponder why exactly that may be the case? We have a first world country on our hands who are not acting out of reason, logic or rationality, rather, acting out of religious/prophetic desire and the US funds most of it, goes in debt to do it and willing spills blood to fulfill upon it.
Not suggesting that there historically hasn't been strategic benefit to being allied with Israel, but when strategic decisions are no longer based on rational processes, like you said, one has to question "what the hell are we doing?"

What historical strategic benefits are there?