Bush’s new war czar confirms that John Kerry was right: conscription “has always been an option on the table.”
When John Kerry said during the 2004 campaign that the Bush plan for endless war in Iraq would eventually require the re-introduction of conscription, the Bush campaign denounced Kerry’s remarks as “fear mongering.” Bush himself denounced “rumors on the Internets” and said, “Now, forget all this talk about a draft. We’re not going to have a draft so long as I am the president.”
This week, Bush’s new “war czar” said that “it certainly makes sense to consider” the draft, which “has always been an option on the table.”
As far as I can see, none of the stories about Gen. Lute’s comments refers to that back-and-forth. Down the memory hole.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
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