Since the military draft was ended by President Nixon in 1973, the all-volunteer military has worked well, up until the time when our continued involvement in Iraq placed burdens on our military that our Army and Marine Corps recruitment has not been able to keep up with.

In addition to difficulties in active duty recruitment, our continued rotation of Reserve and National Guard personnel in and out of Iraq has placed a heavy burden on those units, also.

This week, I read several reports from a variety of news agencies regarding difficulties in recruitment, and how we are now allowing individuals in certain cases with felony convictions for assault, burglary, drug possession and making terrorist threats to sign up. Are these really the individuals we want serving and representing our country? And in addition, are these the type of people that you would want your loved one serving with in Iraq?

We are also seeing a suicide rate nearly three times the national average for Iraq veterans, particularly in the 20-to 24-year-old age range.

I believe the continued rotation of our Army and Marine Corps units in and out of Iraq certainly contributes to these terrible statistics.

With no end in site for our commitment in Iraq, this issue must be addressed. The president continues to say he does not feel we need a draft, but does not explain how he intends to retain and recruit resources for the military. The only options I have heard are more financial incentives for retention and recruitment.

The president says we are at war, and how vital this occupation is to our national interest. If he believes this, why is he so opposed to a draft? He said previously that the American people will need to sacrifice. Who is he asking to sacrifice? Why are financial incentives for retention and recruitment his only option? One could wonder that although he says we are at war and all need to sacrifice, the only people he feels need to sacrifice are those who need the financial incentives.

I would also ask all Americans, especially those who support the occupation of Iraq, to support the re-institution of the draft. If the occupation of Iraq is critical to our national interest, and freeing the people of Iraq is that important to us, then we need to do what is required to accomplish that mission.

How can anyone say they support this military effort, but not be willing to require individuals to go into military service?

Steve Deming
Clermont

Government handouts will be our downfall
After much contemplation, I have decided the citizens of the United States are willing to give up their individuality and their initiative for free handouts from the government.

We have lost the courage of our fathers and forefathers who wanted to be left alone and fend for themselves without interference from the government.

Politicians from both parties have learned the majority of citizens of the United States are willing to become wards of the government for morsels of goodies from Uncle Sam.

Unfortunately, Republicans have joined Democrats in search for votes of those who have become slaves to the government. In other words, the battle for the vote has depraved the minds of politicians and put the country in danger of bankruptcy. Not only that, by giving more and more government handouts, it has ruined the work ethic of millions of people and led to moral decay.

In retrospect, I cannot see any difference in being a slave to one master than that of being a slave to the government. Once the gifts from the government began, slaves will do whatever the government dictates as long as they receive the government's gifts.

Well, the race for buying votes continues at a torrid pace and the results will be a weaker people and a weaker country.

I want you to think hard about the next thought that was presented by Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburg in 1787, concerning the fall of the Athenian Republic more than 2,000 years ago. His conclusion was as follows: "A democracy will continue to exist up until the time voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the results that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy."

Have you checked the huge national debt we are experiencing? Have you recently checked the weak value of the dollar against other currencies? Have you listened to candidates for president from both the Republican and Democratic parties promise everyone a free ticket from health care to free education, to just about anything they can promise to get your votes? Wake up; they are trying to buy slaves and the slaves they are trying to buy are you!

Sens. McCain, Obama and Clinton are all liberals who will initiate more government control of your lives. Being a conservative, I cannot discern a distinct difference in any of the three as far their liberal ideas "negatively" interfering with your goal of seeking more individual success in life.

Who is your best option for whom to vote? I can only suggest you to vote for the candidate that promises the "least." That is the only advice I can give you to help you and our country stay strong.
If we do not return to possessing the courage to take care of ourselves and our family, without the help from the government, we as a people will give up the second greatest gift God can give a people and that is their freedom.

Jim Threlkeld
Clarkesville

Carter, Democrats are a threat to freedoms
I was just reading another article on Jimmy Carter kissing up to more terrorists. I guess after his terrorist friend of 40 years died, Yasser Arafat, a PLO terrorist and murderer, he needed to find a replacement. How long must we put up with this America-hating Democrat?

His action is in direct violation of the Logan Act and proves daily how he prefers terrorists over American freedom and foreign policies. I would love to see the media print the truth about this socialist former president and constant embarrassment to Georgia and the nation. I would like to see him locked up for the rest of his life for treason and consorting with America's enemies during a time of war.

Do they still execute people for treason during wartime? What scares me most is, people are still stupid enough to vote for Democrats. Why don't people in this country that enjoy freedom speak up? Or is it that the mainstream media like the Clinton News Network (CNN) fears the "Dixie Mob" they are affiliated with for over 25 years?

Democrats past, present and future, are a danger to American freedom. That has never changed in the half century I have been on earth.

J.W. Duncan
Gainesville