In article ,
Dale wrote:
...Drafting college students
looked to have much less political impact.

A minor miscalulation

Actually, I suspect LBJ called that one correctly. The college students
got a lot of media attention -- probably more than he expected -- but they
didn't have a lot of direct political clout. He'd have been in bigger
trouble sooner if he'd alienated the middle-aged voters by mobilizing
their friends and neighbors.

(And in reaction to the botched mess that resulted from this approach, the
post-Vietnam military reorganized responsibilities -- notably, moving
important specialties entirely into the reserves -- specifically to make
it *impossible* to fight another war, even a small one, without mobilizing
the reserves.)

That doesn't seem to be working out too well with public opinion either.

It was meant specifically to make presidents think twice about getting
into wars without really solid public support. But some presidents prefer
to listen to the people who tell them it'll all be over by Christmas...
--
No, the devil isn't in the details. | Henry Spencer
The devil is in the *assumptions*. |