Several recent letters have advocated a return of the draft, including Carolyn Ewell's "Draft begets peace" (Forum, Dec. 7).
Ewell optimistically believes that with a draft, citizens "will have powerful motivation to engage in political discourse." She also believes that "members of Congress who would have a personal interest could overwhelm a president who feels free to usurp that power." If only it were true.
A draft in the 1960s didn't stop a president from lying about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and taking us into Vietnam with the support of Congress, warning about "falling dominoes." Then we elected another lying president, who expanded the war, despite growing political discord.
The volunteer armed services grew out of that discord. More recently, another lying president and chicken hawk ideologues took advantage of these brave volunteer warriors. Generals who knew the required manpower numbers were ignored, resulting in multiple deployments.
Our citizens need to quit listening to, and electing, lying ideologues who feel the need to take us to war.
Robin E. Beasley
Sandy