Should U.S Have a Mandatory Military Conscription - Annotated Bibliography Example

Should U.S have a Mandatory Military Conscription? For Whom? Many nations in the globe are in a dilemma on whether to have mandatory military conscription. The controversy has not spared the United States. There are two divides on this matter; the proponents and opponents of mandatory service. Proponents strongly believe that mandatory service reinforces the military forces, builds strong youth character wise, and increases the unity of a nation. The opponents of mandatory conscription state inherent vices such as violation to individual freedoms and the risk to encourage people to join military thereby creating a nation domineered by militarists. In addition, the opponents feel that those who join military without enlistment are enough for the security in United States The research, which appears in the form of annotated bibliography, reveals the varied views of experts who strongly support mandatory military conscription and those who oppose it. Dyckman, Martin who popularly writes in the St. Petersburg Times perceives that the mandatory military conscription will create strong bonds within the military and the whole nation. Martin believes that the youth have bright ideas that will bring professionalism to the Army. On the same string, Armstrong William who writes on the Newsmax.com leads the pack of those who believe that the draft has a lot of benefits. William proposes that every citizen whether male or female ought to serve in the United States military before the age of 25 years.. The research will also explore the cost implication of mandatory military conscription through dissecting the report written by Poutvaara, Panu, and Wagener, Andreas. The researchers suggest that the process expensive when compared to the voluntary recruitment of militaries. War Resistors International express their strong resistance because they feel there violation of basic human rights. The Human Rights Group mounts their protest from the recruitment process to the restriction of the conscripts from disengaging from the military. The other supporters comprise of William L. Hauser and Jerome Slater who argues that mandatory military conscription has a lot of benefits to the United States. William and Slater point out that due to increased terrorists’ attacks all over the world there is need for a strong army in United States. Annotated Bibliography Williams, Armstrong. “Mandatory Military Service Would Benefit the U.S.” Newsmax.com, 19 Jun 2006. Print. Williams is a strong contributor of the Newsmax.com. In this article Armstrong supports the move by the United States to enforce mandatory military enlistment. He starts the article by highlighting the evils inherent in the society which affects the youth in most cases. Some the evils the article addresses include, teenage pregnancy, lack of respect in youth, drug and substance abuse. William proposes that through mandatory military conscription it is possible to eliminate the harmful behavior in youth. William’s article lists some countries that have made it compulsory for their teens to join the military. The article cites Germany, Finland, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Brazil, and Sweden. Other nations comprise of Russia, Turkey, and Switzerland. He observes that the nations allow both boys and girls to serve the military before the age of eighteen years. The article gives out a plan to American people to consider giving their citizens a chance to enroll in the military before the age of 25 years. The article highlights the benefits of using the compulsory military enlistment to tap the skilled youth. The article notes that the youth detest military. William adds that it is a good move to incorporate the teens that normally end up in the streets. Through this program, the teens will get the right training, experience, and shaping of their characters to be good people. The society becomes safer than before. The article gives other benefits such as getting life skills. These comprise of self defense, hardship survival, and technology literacy. In addition the conscripts become physically and mentally fit. However, the article notes of the sentiments that those who are against propose. The article notes that the forced recruits do not give their whole to the military service. War resisters. Military Service in the United States of America: Issues of Conscience and Human Rights, War Resisters International. Web 31 Mar 2012. The article is written by the War Resisters International. This article addresses the fears of human sufferings that come with mandatory military conscription. It dissects the Armed Forces of the United States. It endeavors to address a number of issues in the Armed Forces that it feels they are mere violation of human rights. Some of the issues stems from the process of enlistment, lack of space for person to object, and limitations to leave the after military recruitment. The article notes that the military reserves right to objection. The article reveals the strict measures that the military take after one object to join military are inhumane. They include imprisonment for a minimum of five years and denial of education benefits. War Resisters International strongly opposes the fact that the police can access private information of teens while in school. The age of 17 years that the military uses is a matter of great concern. The group feels that the mandatory military enlistment violates some Acts that addresses the well being of children in school such as No Child Left Behind Act that stipulates every child deserves funding from the Federal government. The Article reveals that the Federal government cuts funding for the schools which fail to allow recruiters to access students’ information. War Resisters international portray the acts of government as violation of fundamental rights of the young citizens. The report proposes that the compulsory military conscription is not the ideal way to deal with human problems. It is clear that the War resisters International object the enforced military conscription. There is abuse of basic human rights in the whole process of recruitment and maintaining the conscripts. This brings a lot of suffering to the conscripts and the society in general. In order to get good performance, the military should sanitize and humanize its recruitment procedure or seek the voluntary recruitment of the militaries. Hauser, William, and Slater, Jerome. The Call-Up: Conscription, Again, World Affairs, Jan/Feb 2010. Web 31 Mar 2012. The author of this article William, Hauser has retired from Army. He is a member of Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces. Slater is a retired professor of political science at State University of New York. The articles talks about the benefits of military conscription and gives other incorporation of programs to strengthen the military. It highlights the ways in which military mandatory conscription brought unity and coercion during the Second World War. The two authors quote other benefits of military conscription such as, tapping the youthful citizen to instill professionalism in the military, building good characters in youth, and deterring the vulnerable youth from joining in socially unacceptable acts. Further, the article proposes some amendment to the conscription law. Jerome and Hauser state that the new law should have clauses that restrict the conscripts operations. For instance, they suggest before the Military send conscripts to combat zones, Congress give its approval. The article believes that it is a prudent move to have mandatory military conscription because it will tame the moves that government of the day might take to weaken the military. This is because United States Armed Force will be a self-regulating entity. The article asserts that mandatory military conscription will form large and skilled Armed Forces capable of fighting external threats. Moreover, the huge military unit will prevent terrorists’ attacks both on the ground and in the air. Jerome and William feel that mandatory military conscription is a right strategy to reduce the high number of military interventions. They view that this happens due to few number of militaries in the Armed Forces. The two acknowledge the exercise might take a long time but the benefits are quite immense. Poutvaara, Panu, and Wagener, Andreas. The Economic Costs and the Political Allure of Conscription. Web 31 Mar 2012. Panu Poutvaara is a professor in University of Helsinki and Andreas Wagener is a professor in the University of Viena. The report looks at the financial implication of the mandatory military conscription in the United States. It reveals that in United States, the political class supports the mandatory military enforcement. The politicians argue that conscription deters socially unaccepted behavior in the society. Their findings allude that there may be disorganization in the military service. Moreover, they feel that there will be exploitation of the conscripts because the military commanders may view the draftees as source of cheap labor. The report concludes that there are high costs in the mandatory conscription program than voluntary recruited militaries. Dyckman, Martin. Sunday Dialogue: Uniting America Through National Service? The New York Times, 18 Feb 2012. Print. The writer is a columnist for The St. Petersburg Times. The article supports the mandatory military conscription. It perceives the move a strong pillar to unite the citizens of United States. The article proposes that the exercise should involve all the classes of people the nation building activities such as maintenance of infrastructure. The article finds the idea of mandatory military conscription as an important initiative to bring invaluable ideas in the military. The article cautions those opposing the deal to put aside their pride for national good. Work Cited Dyckman, Martin. Sunday Dialogue: Uniting America Through National Service? The New York Times, 18 Feb 2012. Print. Gallup, Alec, and Newport, Frank. The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 2005. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. Print. Hauser, William, and Slater, Jerome. The Call-Up: Conscription, Again, World Affairs, Jan/Feb 2010. Web 31 Mar 2012. Poutvaara, Panu, and Wagener, Andreas. The Economic Costs and the Political Allure of Conscription. Web 31 Mar 2012. Ruschmann, Paul. Mandatory Military Service. New York: Infobase Publishers, 2003. Print. War resisters. Military Service in the United States of America: Issues of Conscience and Human Rights, War Resisters International. Web 31 Mar 2012. Watson, Cynthia. U.S. military service: a reference handbook. Broomfield: ABC-CLIO, 2007. Print. White, James. Contemporary Moral Problems: War, Terrorism, and Torture. New York: Cengage Learning, 2008. Print. Williams, Armstrong. “Mandatory Military Service Would Benefit the U.S.” Newsmax.com, 19 Jun 2006. Print. Read More