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"Restore the Military Draft": The Call Comes as Troops Mass (March 2026)
US pundits, officials or think-tank voices calling to bring back the draft for a war with Iran.
Actor Who Has Never Served Wants To Bring Back Military Draft · The Young Turks · uploaded 2026-03-31 · 13:44
Original: youtube.com/watch?v=0TrJZetAKHI · IPFS QmXH1NgfTLpA8Y84vhwgkCwtgA2UXYrsYqgB9ue9qW78NY
What this video is evidence for
In late March 2026, a month into the war, with over 50,000 American troops in the Middle East (according to The New York Times, cited in this segment) and talk of seizing Kharg Island, actor and commentator Rob Schneider posted a long call on X to bring back the military draft:
"We must restore the military draft for our nation's young people. Each and every American at 18 years of age must serve two years of military service."
His post, read in full on The Young Turks (March 31, 2026), says draftees could serve part of that time overseas, and argues the country would gain "a standing army ready at all times, including for domestic problems." Schneider has never served in the military.
Host Ana Kasparian names the timing, and what a draft would mean in a country she argues has been "captured by foreign interests" that "want to goad your country into war constantly":
"Having a draft is a pretty bad idea, isn't it? Because that means that American soldiers will now be forced, forced, to fight wars on behalf of Israel."
Registration for men 18 to 25 is still mandatory, and Selective Service "remains active and on standby." The call to restore the draft did not come from nowhere. It arrived exactly when the ground war was being planned. See the Selective Service and forced-draft pages of this investigation for the machinery already being built.
Where this fits: see Forced Draft Law for the full explanation and sources.
Transcript
Machine transcription (apple-speechanalyzer) of the full 00:13:44. It can mishear names and words, so check exact wording against the video before quoting it.
Well, here's how I feel about it. There's a simple thing as a leader. And you know this, having been in the military, Trump wouldn't know it, because he's a draft dodging coward. But anyway, it's this. A war is justified if you're willing to send your kids, because how can you send somebody else's kids to a war if you won't send your own?
Yet it seems to be something that Rob Schneider is wanting here in this country, a reinstatement of the draft? Interesting timing, Rob. interesting timing. Now, in making his argument, Schneider didn't say that he wants the draft to be reinstated in order to have more troops to fight Israel's war against Iran, he tried to find a different reason, although it's really just the cover story. So, as of yesterday, there are now over 50,000 American troops in the Middle East.
That's roughly 10,000 more than usual, according to the New York Times. So that buildup is making people who don't think this war is a good idea, incredibly anxious, because it does appear that Trump is thinking about a ground invasion. We don't know the exact details. I think that all signs point to Trump attempting to take Karg Island, which is incredibly economically important for the Iranians. But I do want to get to Schneider's lengthy post on X.
Now, we posted this on Friday. Here's the argument that he makes, okay? We must, once again, recommit ourselves to one nation under God indivisible. Therefore, we must restore the military draft for our nation's young people. Each and every American and 18 years of age must serve two years of military service.
Interesting, okay. They could also choose to serve part of that time, overseas or in country in a volunteer capacity, not all of that time. Some of that time. They definitely do need to, like, serve some of that time abroad. Hopefully in Iran.
Right, Rob? Right? Yeah. Okay. He continues, Being a citizen of the United States gives us unparalleled freedoms and opportunities that are the envy of the world.
How many Americans have lost their jobs because they were mildly critical of Israel. Is that a free country? I don't think so, but I'll continue with his statement. However, these freedoms that we cherish do not come without a cost. By protecting and preserving these freedoms, young people, regardless of race, creed, or religion, will be united in service to their country, and just as importantly to each other.
Really? Here's the thing. When you live in a country that has been captured by foreign interests, and those foreign interests want to goad your country into war constantly, having a draft is a pretty bad idea, isn't it? Because that means that American soldiers will now be forced, forced. to fight wars on behalf of Israel.
Now, currently, we have a voluntary military service, and unfortunately, many of our soldiers do not want to be deployed to the Middle East, I was watching videos today of service members hugging their families goodbye as they're being deployed, and it was heartbreaking. But imagine living in a situation where you must. You have to serve in the military for two years. I mean, how many Middle East wars are we going to get dragged into? Can you imagine?
I mean, considering the fact that Israel is already thinking about how Turkey is their next target? Americans forced to go to war against Turkey? That's how it would play out. And Rob knows that. Rob knows that.
Now, did Rob ever serve in the military? No, of course not. He couldn't be bothered. Couldn't be bothered. Now, while the U.
S. does still have mandatory registration for men ages 18 to 26, the selective service system does remain active and on standby. And so the draft did end in 1973, when the U.S. did something similarly stupid, when we decided to go to war with Vietnam.
After that, the military transitioned to an all voluntary force. And I think considering how war hungry and bloodthirsty our Pentagon is, I think it's probably better to have an all volunteer force. But many other countries still have mandatory military service, and Schneider used that as a justification to, you know, reinforce his idea here. And that's not all. He continued to argue other purposes that this would have.
So he says, we would have all of our young men and women, put into a rigorous physical training course that they could use for the rest of their lives. Hold on, pause, like in what context, Rob? like, what other context are they going to use their military training for? What is that? We could always have a standing army ready at all times, including for domestic problems like natural disasters.
Okay, we're done. We're done, we're done. We're done, Rob. We're done. Really?
freaking militarized federal agents responding to natural disasters? You think they're war experience in Iran, for instance, is gonna make them better prepared to respond. We have something. I mean, we have the National Guard to help with that. Okay?
The National Guard helps with alongside FEMA when these natural disasters happen. The idea that we need to have a freaking draft. And one of the benefits is that we're going to have, like, PTSD ridden soldiers responding to natural disasters is insane. And when I say PTSD ridden, I'm not trying to insult our soldiers. I am insulting our government for dragging us into ridiculous wars, and then neglecting our veterans.
How many of our veterans are homeless? How many of them have untreated mental health problems because they were deployed multiple times in the Middle East to fight other illegal wars on behalf of Israel. This guy is sick, man. Unlike in today's universities, our young people will learn how truly great their country is, and how unique and incredible are the freedoms that this nation bestows upon them. You didn't serve in the military bro.
What are you talking about? Also, very importantly, we would have in service every segment of our society represented, so that our elected officials would be more hesitant, and not cavalier, about sending their own sons and daughters off to a faraway war, unless it was truly in our nation's interest. Rob, are you high? President Donald Trump dodged the draft for Vietnam. By lying in saying that he had bone spurs, you think Trump would send his son to fight in Iran?
Are you insane? I mean, he's not insane. He knows he's lying. He knows that those with means, those with money, the elite, if you will, would never send their sons and daughters to fight a poorly thought out and ill prepared war against Iran, for instance. They would never do that.
He ended with this. To the young people of America, this is your country and your future, it sure doesn't feel like it. We will leave this great and free nation in your good hands for your children and for your children's children. We have $40 trillion in debt that, you know, these children and their children's children will have to deal with. Probably after Rob Schneider is long, dead and gone.
But he continues. Sending their own sons and daughters to a faraway war unless it was truly in our nation's interests. Okay, is this war against Iran in our nation's interests? Is it going well for us? I'm just curious what he thinks.
And then finally, he says, God bless America. And again, he's never served in the military. Bear's repeating, I know I've said it three times now, and right now, there are no current plans for a draft. Luckily, reinstating the draft would require Congress to amend federal law, and honestly, when it comes to war, I do think Congress will pull through. There are two things that Congress tends to pull through for.
That's Pentagon funding and funding for more war. There's usually very little debate on that. But Caroline Levitt did leave the door open to a potential draft earlier this month. Let's take a quick look at that. Yeah, and the president had an interesting exchange on Air Force One over the weekend, Carolyn.
I want to get your take about this idea of troops on the ground. Mothers out there are worried that we're gonna have a draft, that they're gonna see their sons get in, and daughters get involved in this. What do you want to say about the president's plans for troops on the ground? As we know, it's been largely an air campaign up until now. It has been, and it will continue to be, and President Trump wisely does not remove options off of the table.
I know a lot of politicians like to do that quickly, but the president, as commander in chief, wants to continue to assess the success of this military operation. It's not part of the current plan right now, but the president, again, wisely keeps his options on the table. But as commander in chief, there's no greater priority or responsibility to this president than, of course, protecting the American people. Protecting the American people would require Trump to not get dragged into wars on behalf of foreign countries, but you know, I digress. And there is a change that was made.
I don't know if most Americans are even aware of it, because it kind of happened quietly. So the U.S. Army already raised the enlistment age from 35 to 42, because they want to expand the recruitment pool. Fascinating.
Why would they do that? The new regulations also remove the requirement for moral waivers for a single prior conviction of marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession. Even just putting boots on the ground, in general, people make this argument, I don't buy it. Our government doesn't care about us. Like, I don't know how else to say it.
It's so obvious and abundantly clear. They don't care about us. They don't care about us at all. OK, you can literally have hundreds of thousands of people taken to the streets. Every single freakin' day.
They won't do anything for you. So, the idea that, like, oh, they're going to reinstate the draft, and then Americans are going to rise up, and they're not afraid of us. That's the problem. They don't care about us, they're not afraid of us. If you reinstate the draft, and there's a bunch of people who are upset about it, you want to know what Trump is going to do, laugh in your face, and tell you that we're winning so hard, you're tired of winning.
But anyway, let's look at the polling, because among all Americans, according to the Associated Press, NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 62% opposed deploying U.S. troops, on the ground in Iran, and the poll also found that while 63% of Republicans allegedly support the air strikes against Iran, only 20% aren't in favor of deploying U.S. troops.
That's only about two in 10 Republicans in favor of boots on the ground, but it doesn't matter Republicans. Your government doesn't care about you. So, if, you know, BB massages the ego and, you know, makes deals behind the scenes with Trump hard enough, because, you know, we need more cannon fodder for the Israelis, so we can get what we want with the Bulcanization of Iran, oh, Trump will do it. He's got a price for everything. Trust me.
And there hasn't really been any recent pulling on the idea of a draft, but according to the Washington Times, which is a conservative publication in 2024, they reported that a Rasmussen report reports survey of 1110 likely U.S. voters found only 21% of voters believe that the U.S. should even have a draft.
61% disagreed, 18% unsure. Yeah, I agree with the notion of, hey, you want to bring Americans together, you want to, like, increase pride, increase morale, really get Americans to think about what it means to be an American, right? So if it's, you have two years of some sort of service you provide to the country that doesn't have to be in the military, OK, we're having an argument. That's not what this is about. Rob Schneider sees the writing on the wall.
OK, Americans are sick of getting dragged into these senseless wars, the military's having trouble recruiting enough people, clearly. And so, he's floating the idea of a draft at a time when war is escalating with Iran, and it is not looking good for the Americans. I mean, what a total clown. I love how we pretended, like, this has nothing to do with Iran. Get out of here.
Get out of here. How about you? How about you rally your family members and ask them to join the military? Other than that, I don't want to hear anything about the draft. Okay?
Our country is totally captured by foreign interests that drag us into wars on their behalf. No, no conversation about a draft. Move on. Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets the swings. totally not true.
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Last Updated: 2026-09-27