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[ArKFallen]

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_29204821/combat-women-raises-draft-question

I find it funny that Obama thinks it is unfortunate that a female draft was already being litigated for.

[Bauglir]

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_29204821/combat-women-raises-draft-question

I find it funny that Obama thinks it is unfortunate that a female draft was already being litigated for.

obama didn't say that, though

[ArKFallen]

obama didn't say that, though

Ah yes. It would seem that it was Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.

[Graknorke]

The reason why drafting is a separate discussion is because it's a responsibility rather than a right.

[Sirus]

One would think that true equality would entail equal responsibilities as well as equal rights...

[Bauglir]

i dunno, jury duty's apparently a right

the draft seems pretty similar in principle

[Putnam]

i dunno, jury duty's apparently a right

I think it's more like jury duty is the obvious consequence of having a jury of peers for trial be a right.

[Sirus]

i dunno, jury duty's apparently a right

the draft seems pretty similar in principle

Are women excluded from jury duty for some reason?

[Bauglir]

right, shit

opinion retracted, strauder takes precedence

EDIT: no, women aren't excluded from jury duty, but black folks once were

[Sirus]

Eh, draft's been dead for a while now anyway.

Note that I had to register for the draft. I'm not even a goddamn citizen.

The whole point of Selective Service is that it's basically a pre-draft. If the United States were to get into a conflict and not have enough volunteer soldiers for the job, the draft might come back and those registered for Selective Service (aka every single male within a certain age range) are the first in line to get "volunteered".

Thing is, women were never required to register for Selective Service and I'm not even sure if they could register. That might have made sense when women were forbidden from combat duty, but the times are a-changing and we either need to get rid of Selective Service (on the grounds that we have an additional source of combat troops now) or require women to register as well.

[Rolan7]

It just seems obvious that if we establish that women can serve in the military, which they kinda have been, there's no good reason to exclude them from the draft. 

Particularly if we use draftees for non-combat roles like I hear other countries do...

Reading up on this, it does seem like women are basically unable to join the marine infantry because of the exceptionally high physical requirements.  But I wouldn't be able to either, by a long shot.  My understanding is I could probably pass air force or army basic training (probably), based on the way the draft worked in Vietnam and some of my family members who did pass.  And I've met several women fitter than I am.  Even if a median woman can't hack it, a significant proportion should be able to...  I'm not even sure I'm fitter than the median woman.

Anyway...  Why *would* women be exempt from a future draft?  It needs a reason, the default should be equal status.

I always found it funny that they trust a noncitizen with a gun and the training to know how to use it, but not the right to judge morally the crimes of their peers. Though they still summon non-citizens, which is always fun to get.

Wait, noncitizens can serve in the military?  Wtf...
If we're doing that, it really ought to grant citizenship, Roman-style!  Not really joking.

[Baffler]

The only argument I can conceive against it is that if women were conscripted too things like the War of the Triple Alliance, or WW2 for some participants, would end in an empty country instead of a greatly struggling one with a weird gender ratio. Those are extreme examples, and ideally that wouldn't even be a possibility, but regardless of how much water it hilds I'm sure it's crossed the mind of at least one person in charge.

[Strife26]

Selective service is one of those things that exists purely on the basis of government inertia. Gotta spend /more than) your tax dollars on something, after all.

[Putnam]

No, I can see the hypothetical benefits outweighing the costs even today.

Of course, by that I mean I can see the possibility but don't actually know whether or not they do. But not knowing whether or not they do doesn't mean I have any reason to argue against it or for it. Really, I can't even be neutral, I'm just incapable of taking a stance at all.

[Strife26]

Sure, if WWII broke out again, and we weren't willing to start the draftee lists again from scratch, it'd be great. But the odds of WWIII happening in such a way that America needs a 100 division Army seems pretty low to me. Cost vs chance x consequence.