Early last night as I was instant messaging with a couple of friends, talk of the possibility of a military draft surfaced. This really is no big news; it is one of the biggest boogeymen that Americans can throw at each other in the civil discourse arena surrounding our war. It’s an analogue of Godwin’s Law and indicative of an increasingly high-pitched trill designed specifically as an emotional trap.

I came across Ken Wheaton’s blog this morning, where he discusses in words clear enough — so I don’t have to — its disadvantages that lead to its improbability. To wit:

There will be no draft, people. Not unless we end up at war with China, North Korea, Cuba and Antarctica all at the same time. The military does not want a draft.

Why? Because drafting unwilling soldiers is exactly where you run into trouble. Drafting unwilling soldiers increases the chances of you drafting war criminals, of morale problems in the ranks, of tearing the country assunder.

Were I a military tactician I wouldn’t want a draft either. I do not want unwilling and unprofessional, forced-into-service troops to defend my volunteer army. I would sooner engage in hiring mercenaries than drafting citizens to fight a war they may be unwilling to fight in. It would be a disastrous mistake.

Given the choice between using low-yield atomics (ten- to twenty-mile areas of effect) launched at strategic targets and marching half a million troops — perhaps as many as two-thirds of which are conscripts — to an all-out ground war against an uncompromising enemy bent on our defeat, I suppose my choice would be evident in how I have worded my options.