Analysis Of David W. Barno's A New Moral Compact

David W. Barno writes in “A New Moral Compact,” about the current problem of having a volunteer military. He writes about the current war the United States is in as well as, previous wars like the Vietnam War. Barno’s main issue is that the population has distanced itself from the military and are less skeptical about going to war. He proposes, “. . .that every use of military force over 60 days would automatically trigger an annual draft lottery to call up 10,000 men and women” (20). Barno believes this will draw the population closer to the war effort eventually, becoming hesitant about going to war. Barno states, “It has also effectively lowered our national threshold for decisions to conduct military operations or go to war” (17). As war
Ethos is used when he explains the situation about his son in the Army. Barno basically explains how his son was deployed multiple times to the Middle East. He explains, “When our youngest son, an Army pilot, was called to go back after completing his first tour, I was suddenly angry” (19). Even though, Barno is a retired lieutenant general he knows what it is like to have a son deployed multiple times. Pathos is used when describing the scheme used by the well-off to avoid getting drafted. Barno writes, “And for each of those who sidestepped the call, some other, less fortunate young man was called up to take his place. Some of whom, of course, never came back . . .” (18). This affects the reader emotionally by expressing the reality of war. Logos is used when the number troops are compared between a war fought with draftees to a war fought with only volunteers. There were reported 1.2 million soldiers during the Vietnam War, 16 million serving during World War 2, and 560,00 troops serving right now. These numbers support Barno’s claim that not having a draft increases deployments on soldiers. Therefore, they are forced to face the horrors of war time after