Several candidates to be the next president of France are calling for the return of military service. That's because the idea has proved popular among a French public left on edge after a string of terror attacks and drawn by the notion that military service could help provide unity, cohesion and good old-fashioned values. “The 100,000 drop-outs per year, aged between 18 and 25 years old, will have to undertake obligatory military service,” Sarkozy told L’Emission Politique. However Hervieu says Sarkozy could easily get round it by making the military service a condition of the granting of certain state benefits. Would those on military service, who would presumably be tasked with easing the pressure on soldiers currently employed to protect sensitive targets, be given weapons?

Source: The Local September 16, 2016 12:22 UTC