Soldier/blogger and California author Colby Buzzell finished his hitch in Iraq and returned to civilian life in 2004. Or so he thought. A couple of weeks ago, he was ordered to return to war — something his recruiter told him would happen only if World War III broke out. Buzzell’s book My War:Killing Time In Iraq, (Penguin, 2005) was a best-selling compilation of entries from the popular and relentless blog he wrote from the frontlines during his first deployment. Forced to interrupt his GI Bill education at San Francisco City College to return to the army, he writes about the backdoor draft in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed.

Looking back, would I have joined the military if I were doing something that I loved? Or had a job that paid $100,000 a year? Probably not. Those are the men and women I feel that we need to mail these letters to. Let’s see what happens when they receive letters telling them to put on a uniform and ship out immediately to the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Many people believe that the draft ended the Vietnam War. I’m convinced that reinstating the draft would definitely end this war. Rich, connected people will always find a way to evade mandatory service, but what about the rest of America? The middle class - people with good jobs and nice lives - would perhaps riot if the government even suggested that it expected from them what the Army expects from veterans.

Dunno about you, but I’m definitely putting the My War blog back in my feed reader — and hoping hard that Buzzell makes it back to his life and another book deal.