The Way Forward

usaf-vet

(7,418 posts) Thu Feb 6, 2025, 02:47 PM Feb 6

The take over of Gaza will require military troops. The current numbers for the U.S. is estimate 1,300,000 active duty.

Here are the most recent numbers:

Active-Duty Military Personnel: 1,290,000

Army: 453,551
Navy: 332,322
Air Force: 318,698
Marine Corps: 172,577
Space Force: 8,879
National Guard and Reserve Members: 767,238

It is clear that the only option to increase the number of active duty military members is to re-implement the DRAFT.
During the Vietnam War, the United States drafted approximately 2.2 million men through the Selective Service System. This occurred between 1964 and 1973 when the U.S. relied on conscription to meet military personnel needs, as volunteer enlistments were not enough to sustain the demand for troops. THAT draft was highly controversial and faced increasing opposition as the war dragged on. In 1973, the draft was ended, and the U.S. military transitioned to an all-volunteer force.

As a voluntary enlistment active duty military member from 1965-1969 USAF. I have always contended that bringing back a military draft would put millions of families in the streets, protesting NOT WITH MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS!. Not for an unnecessary war. In my long-held opinion, The protests would stop a draft before it could be implemented.

Presidents since 1973 have realized that the citizens of the U.S. would not support a draft, particularly for unnecessary incursion into places like Gaza, Greenland, and Panama. All targets Trump appears to have on his delusional agenda.

The following is a transcript from today's SEASON 3 EPISODE 95: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
https://www.democraticunderground.com/132259414
https://omny.fm/shows/countdown-with-keith-olbermann/how-do-we-get-elon-and-his-mutant-turtles-arrested#sharing

"All of a sudden, those million, three hundred thousand active duty American troops they're just not going to be enough, now, are they. So now Trump's backed himself into the next corner bringing back the draft. Hasn't said it yet, Wait for it. If there is one thing that will guarantee riots in the streets that, oh, by the way, the rioters will win. It's another draft. The last one was expanded for Vietnam in the sixties, at a time when the nation still largely believed its government meant well and had judgment, and when parents would actually willingly let the government take their children to send them to die meaninglessly in a conflict we could not win or even influence, when we still believed in large part that the government's judgment on such things could be trusted. And still within three years there were daily protests and draft card burnings and violent underground terrorist organizations, and enough chaos to end Lyndon Johnson's presidency and force an end to the war and the draft within the decade. If Trump, if any president, for Gaza or Greenland or Panama or whatever else he pulls out of his own ass, If Trump or any president tried a draft, except in the event of something on the scale of World War Two, in these days, when the idea of people agreeing to be forced by the government to risk their lives in an optional war is met with only rage and uncontrollable laughter. If Trump actually tried a draft, and to clean out Gaza, he'd have to have a draft. If he actually did it, I'd give his presidency it a week to ten days before he and everybody in it were forced out of office. It may not have occurred to Trump yet that to do just Gaza, maybe just Greenland, or just Panama, it would require a draft.

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The take over of Gaza will require military troops. The current numbers for the U.S. is estimate 1,300,000 active duty. (Original Post) usaf-vet Feb 6 OP

Or, just such a destroyed economy that millions sign up intrepidity Feb 6 #1

MaddowBlog-New details make Trump's radical Gaza plan look worse, not better LetMyPeopleVote Feb 6 #2

.Did Susie Wiles give a 'death stare' to Donald Trump when he said US will take over Gaza? littlemissmartypants Feb 6 #4

Now adjust those numbers by Bettie Feb 6 #3

I have a grandson who is now 13. The prospect of his father's draft into the Vietnam War is why I got active in the anti CTyankee Feb 25 #7

I was a kid during Viet Nam Bettie Feb 25 #8

What a sad story in your family! CTyankee Feb 25 #9

Taking over Gaza is a dumb idea... Mountainguy Feb 23 #5

YA but! Trump is the stupidest, crazy, mentally distrubed person to ever sit in the White House nothing is out of...... usaf-vet Feb 23 #6

Why use US military troops when unaccountable for hire private security forces can do the job Brother Buzz Feb 26 #10

intrepidity

(8,219 posts)

1. Or, just such a destroyed economy that millions sign up

Reply to usaf-vet (Original post)

Thu Feb 6, 2025, 03:07 PM

Feb 6

as a way to simply survive?

LetMyPeopleVote

(160,943 posts)

2. MaddowBlog-New details make Trump's radical Gaza plan look worse, not better

Reply to usaf-vet (Original post)

Thu Feb 6, 2025, 03:41 PM

Feb 6

This plan makes no sense in such a number of areas that it is silly. The lack of troops is only the one of the stupid reasons why this plan makes no sense

After having learned nothing after his first failed term, the president still appears wholly incapable of avoiding shambolic chaos of his own making.
https://bsky.app/profile/stevebenen.com/post/3lhjax7bnhs2r

After having learned nothing after his first failed term, Trump still appears wholly incapable of avoiding shambolic chaos of his own making.

Take his Gaza "plan," for example.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/new-details-make-trumps-radical-gaza-plan-look-worse-not-better-rcna190962

Following a series of foreign policy blunders in 2019, Anne Applebaum wrote a piece for The Washington Post with a memorable summary of how Donald Trump approaches international challenges. “There is no plan; there is only whim and instinct,” she explained. “There is no international orientation either, just a series of hasty unplanned, unexamined decisions, followed by Twitter tantrums.”

Nearly six years later, the assessment continues to ring true. Take the president’s plan — I’m using the word loosely — to acquire the Gaza Strip......

As for how, exactly, the president arrived at this idea, The New York Times reported that Trump “shocked even senior members of his own White House” on Tuesday afternoon:

[P]rivately, Mr. Trump had been talking about U.S. ownership of the enclave for weeks. And his thinking had accelerated, according to two administration officials, after his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, returned from Gaza last week and described the horrific conditions there.

While his announcement looked formal and thought-out — he read the plan from a sheet of paper — his administration had not done even the most basic planning to examine the feasibility of the idea, according to four people with knowledge of the discussions, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

In a normal, functioning U.S. administration, such a monumental decision would go through months of intense scrutiny, led by experienced national security and diplomatic officials. There would be working groups. And negotiations. And detailed analyses on costs and consequences......

The day after the rollout of the plan, administration officials couldn’t answer the questions because there were no such answers. All they had were some poorly thought-out rhetoric that their boss blurted out, to the consternation of much of the planet.

After a day of confusion at the White House, Trump apparently thought he could help clear things up with a 107-word missive published to his social media platform. In it, the Republican said Gaza “would be turned over to the United States,” and Palestinians would be “resettled” in some other countries that he didn’t identify.

He went on to say that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, is a Palestinian — a label Trump has long used as a slur — before concluding that Trump doesn’t believe U.S. troops will be needed as part of this endeavor because ... well, he never actually got around to saying why not.

All of which is to say, Trump created an avoidable international incident on Tuesday, only to make matters worse soon after.

littlemissmartypants

(27,080 posts)

4. .Did Susie Wiles give a 'death stare' to Donald Trump when he said US will take over Gaza?

Reply to LetMyPeopleVote (Reply #2)

Thu Feb 6, 2025, 05:19 PM

Feb 6

Did Susie Wiles give a 'death stare' to Donald Trump when he said US will take over Gaza? Photo goes viral

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/did-susie-wiles-give-a-death-stare-to-donald-trump-when-he-said-us-will-take-over-gaza-photo-goes-viral/ar-AA1ywytf

w=768&h=432&m=6&x=304&y=56&s=721&d=284

Bettie

(18,104 posts)

3. Now adjust those numbers by

Reply to usaf-vet (Original post)

Thu Feb 6, 2025, 03:46 PM

Feb 6

getting all those danged women out of the military! Remember, women don't belong in Hegseth's military.

So, they'd have to draft a LOT of young men.

I have three sons who would all be eligible (well, one is 16, so not quite yet).

CTyankee

(65,912 posts)

7. I have a grandson who is now 13. The prospect of his father's draft into the Vietnam War is why I got active in the anti

Reply to Bettie (Reply #3)

Tue Feb 25, 2025, 06:19 PM

Feb 25

war movement back in the day. NO WAY will they take my grandchild in THIS war!

Bettie

(18,104 posts)

8. I was a kid during Viet Nam

Reply to CTyankee (Reply #7)

Tue Feb 25, 2025, 07:36 PM

Feb 25

but I saw how screwed up my father's cousins were coming back. They never were able to function well after that. One died of suicide, one of addiction.

NO way my sons get dragged into that man's fuckery.

CTyankee

(65,912 posts)

9. What a sad story in your family!

Reply to Bettie (Reply #8)

Tue Feb 25, 2025, 08:41 PM

Feb 25

In those days, we antiwar folks were not popular in our communities. But time proved us right!

Mountainguy

(1,656 posts)

5. Taking over Gaza is a dumb idea...

Reply to usaf-vet (Original post)

Sun Feb 23, 2025, 02:17 PM

Feb 23

but there are another 800k reserve/guard members that would be available. And it wouldn't take anywhere near that number to take over Gaza if they wanted to, and there would obviously be Israeli troops as well.

There wasn't a draft when we had wars ongoing in both Iraq and Afghanistan for 15 years, although I saw LOT of people claiming there would be a draft if Bush won in '04... It didn't happen then and there wouldn't be one for an invasion of Gaza either.

Making these types of dire warnings makes us look bad when they don't happen and takes away credibility when something dire is actually going to happen.

usaf-vet

(7,418 posts)

6. YA but! Trump is the stupidest, crazy, mentally distrubed person to ever sit in the White House nothing is out of......

Reply to Mountainguy (Reply #5)

Sun Feb 23, 2025, 02:49 PM

Feb 23

..... limits to him. He thinks GOD sent him. To do what? Destroy the planet?

Well, here is what the Bible says. Trump's bible must be filled with lies and misinformation.

According to the Bible, God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. This is described in the book of Genesis:

Day 1: Light and darkness (Genesis 1:3-5)
Day 2: Sky and waters (Genesis 1:6-8)
Day 3: Land, seas, and vegetation (Genesis 1 9-13)
Day 4: Sun, moon, and stars (Genesis 1:14-19)
Day 5: Birds and sea creatures (Genesis 1:20-23)
Day 6: Land animals and humankind (Genesis 1:24-31)
Day 7: God rested (Genesis 2:2-3)

Key Verses:

Genesis 1:31 – "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day."
Genesis 2:2-3 – "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work."

The Bible makes it clear that creation is God’s, and we are His stewards. Protecting and caring for the environment is not just an optional concern—it is a moral and spiritual duty. By caring for creation, we reflect God’s love, wisdom, and responsibility.

But here is reality.
Many of the Christian nationalist and far-right figures in Congress—often labeled "Christofascists" by critics—do not align with the biblical call to care for God's creation. Instead, they often undermine environmental protections, favor corporate exploitation of natural resources, and reject climate science.

Conclusion: Hypocrisy in Christian Nationalist Politics
Many self-proclaimed "Christian" politicians fail to uphold biblical environmental principles.
Their policies harm creation, contradicting God’s mandate for stewardship.
Instead of protecting the Earth, they align with corporate polluters, dismiss climate science, and undermine environmental justice.

Brother Buzz

(38,273 posts)

10. Why use US military troops when unaccountable for hire private security forces can do the job