I was interested in this piece by Michael Kinsley on ways to make a military draft fair…or as fair as humanly possible. I tend to think conscription can never be fair and unless you have a war that America views as overwhelmingly necessary (like stopping Hitler), it can only lead to a military that is largely full of people who don't want to be there.
The solution? My feeling is that we'd have a very strong and efficient volunteer army if this country were as willing to pay money to the soldiers who fire weapons as they are to enrich the companies that make them.