On Tuesday May 15th defense Minister Mikael Odenberg has said that he is in favour of abolishing Sweden’s system of compulsory military service. This would mean no forced conscription in Peace time. The draft would be reserved for times of war, he said in an interview with Svenska Dagbladet.

This seemed a little strange to me, as Mikael Odenberg seemed to be favorable to participating in the NATO Naval exercises that were held over the weekend in the waters of Sweden’s western coast. In the news recently a woman was charged with refusing to hold up her obligation for military service. Odenberg stated “Wartime conscription should also be applicable for women as well as men, he added. Military service in its current form is only compulsory for men. Odenberg further stressed that he does not want Sweden to have a professional army. The country should instead retain military service – which is “a symbol for the army’s popular basis” – even if it is only in use at times of military necessity. “There are good reasons for trying to see if we can find a solution whereby we have basic conscription legislation that can be activated in turbulent times,” said Odenberg.

There were criticisms of Odenbergs remarks on ending Sweden’s draft. Senior officials stated that it takes about 11 months to train a Swedish soldier and not having a draft might put Sweden in a position where it could have a shortage of qualified personnel. Very surprising also was that Odenbergs said that Sweden would not be participating in NATO’s Active Endeavor operation in the Mediterranean later on this year. Odenberg had said in the past that Sweden might participate in the Active Endeavor military exercises in the Mediterranean.

Sweden’s Left Wing Media Played up protests and demonstrations against Sweden’s participation in NATO’s Noble Mariner exercises which took place over the weekend off the waters of Sweden’s West Coast near the port city of Gothenburg, Northern Europe’s Largest Commercial Port. The papers made it a point not to report the actual number of protesters but to state that the protesters claimed to have had a crowed of about 3000. Most of the people out that day that must have been double counted by the wacko students were out there to enjoy the sunshine during the unseasonable cold spring. In a NUT shell two idiots paddled blow up rafts in a lame attempt to intercept military vessels, and two fools braved the cold ocean waters and tried to swim out to the ships. Neither attempt got very far as both ventures were stopped pretty much before they began. In a television interview one announcer for Sweden’s Radio asked one BLOND SWEDE “What do you expect to accomplish by standing out here waving this sign while the military ships are off the coast engaging in military exercises”, the women looking like she was a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train said “we want to stop Nuclear.. Nuclear weapons maybe in Sweden”, it didn’t seem very coherent to me when I heard her say it on the news. The announcer asked do you really think it will work, and with a head movement like one of the bobble toys in the back of a car she shook her head up and down saying yes. Oh well, another dumb blond swede, with nothing else better to do on the weekend. On more serious political shows cooler minds prevailed. It is recognized by swedes that work and are not on the dole, participation with NATO allies in military exercises is very important to Sweden’s Security.