Andrew Crystall wrote.
> On 30 May 2001, at 23:25, Robert Shaw wrote:
>
> >
> > Conscription during war is an unfortunate necessity of modern times.
> > It didn't really start till the napoleonic era.
> >
> > Conscription in the face of threatened war is an acceptable evil.
> >
> > Conscription in times of true peace is unnecessary. Conscript armies,
> > which can rarely be trained to the same standards as fully
> > professional armies, are only really useful as a last ditch defence.
> > Any minor social benefits are more than outweighed by the economic
> > costs, and if there's a sudden demand for an army one can always be
> > called up within a few months.
>
> In the west, I agree. Israel is a different story.
>
Israel is not at peace. It's not quite at war but there are sufficient
external
threats to make conscription useful.
Broadly speaking volunteer armies will be well motivated but,
in times of peace, many conscripts will not be. They are just
doing their time. Volunteers can typically also spend longer
in the army than is viable for conscripts.
Israeli conscripts will be well motivated, because there is
a real threat to their nation. Russian conscripts certainly
aren't.
--
Robert
