[petercooper]

I was comparing patriotism to slavery, not the draft per-se. The concept of feeling duty for "one's country" seems very weird when you look at it with some detachment. In a very literal sense, my loyalties end at my family, let alone my town, county, country, planet, or whatever.

In any case, modern wars are far less clear. In terms of this specific post, no-one from Vietnam was getting ready to invade or enslave the US or Europe. It could be argued Vietnam was a necessary show of force to demonstrate that the West wouldn't allow the USSR to mark its mark all around the world, but it'd be a tenuous argument at best.