Many of you are probably familiar to some of what I am going to say, but I wasn't, and fell visstim to believing an urban legend - which nearly ruined my night. Today, I received this in my e-mail inbox: Of course, I was stunned and fearful for my son, who will be 18 in February. I panicked, and then I became resonable, did a google search on the above bills in question, and discovered this link: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp Granted, I fell victim to an "Urban Legend", but with still a realistic fear - will the draft be imposed again? Which president would most likely do it if elected or re-elected? Are both candidates "just saying no" until after the election?
I hope the draft doesn't start again. However, if it does, I can only hope they throw out differals for college (Cheney & Clinton), or butt boils (Limbaugh), or allow people to join National Guard units that are already at 125% of capacity (GW). I have a 15 year old son. I am afraid that he would be subject to a draft if Bush's war is prolonged. I still put out the challenge to WarHawk Bush: If you think this war is to justfied, why not have your daughters suit up. I am sure the Army or Marine Corps could use their talent on the front line. (of course this would never happen - because Bush finds it easy to sacrifice others for his own glory)
No one can accurately predict which candidate would be more likely to reinstate a draft. But you might want to consider a few points regarding this issue. 1. Required registration with Selective Service ended in 1975. 2. Required registration with Selective Sevice was reinstated by Democrat Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1980. At that time all men between the ages of 18 and 26 were (and still are) required to register. (There was a small number of men who were never required to register either before 1975 or after summer of 1980. The window of non-requirement includes only men born after March 29, 1957 and before December 31, 1959.) 3. Currently registration only is required, with all males required to register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. (Immigrant citizens and resident aliens must also register if they were between 18 to 26 years old upon entering the country or if they turn 18 while living in the country.) Since there has been no classification of registrants they can't become inductees beginning as early as spring of 2005. Classification must be done first before anyone is actually drafted. Because there was only a five year window where registration was not required (between 1975 and 1980), the majority of draft registrants were never actually drafted. 4. There was some pressure on future presidents to rescind the registration requirement. Republicans Regan, Bush Sr., and G.W. Bush as well as Democrat Clinton have all disagreed with recinding registration. At their respective times of presidency all have pointed out that there is no active draft and no plans to reactivate a draft, but all believed that Selective Service registration should continue in case national emergency made a draft absolutely necessary. 5. Even if a draft was reinstated that doesn't mean the "lottery" system would be used. It could go back to the old system of drafting oldest registrants first, starting with current registrants who are 26 years old. The lottery system used during the Vietnam war was done because of concerns of equity and fairness, but it didn't work well. Drafts were used in WW II under the old system, resulting in the average age of WW II soldiers being approx. 25 years old. The average age of Vietnam soldiers under the lottery system was approx. 19 years old. Most military field commanders would agree that there's a world of difference between a 25 year old soldier and a 19 year old soldier. 6. S89 and HR 163 were introduced by Democrats as anti-war statements, since as there is generally at least some public support during wars there is little, if any, public support for reinstituting drafts. 7. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has spoken several times last year and early this year about wanting to reinstitute a draft to ensure social and racial equity in military service. Rep. Rangel has stated that he supports limiting higher education deferments to finishing current semester only. He has stated that he feels higher education deferments were used during the Vietnam war mainly by upper middle class and wealthy parents trying to keep their sons from being drafted. Rep. Rangel has been silent on this issue since the Democratic primary campaigns. Kit
The OFFICIAL line Notwithstanding all previous, the offical line from the Selective Service system is
Army doesn't want a draft. There simply aren't the senior NCOs available for training; there's also a shortage junior officers (no more mandatory ROTC at land grant universities). And where shall we put the new draftees? A whole bunch of bases have been sold.
If a post were about the merits of an innie versus an outie, Mr. Engineer, you'd find some means to use it as a springboard for an all-out assault on our President.
As a current service member and one with children nearing draftable age...I appreciate the intent of the original post. Speculation of instituting a draft has been heard variously throughout the Army. Notably, I doubt that National Guard strength is at 125% - according to a recent article in the New York Times: What concerns us most, however, is the speculation of reducing combat zone tours from 12 months (or longer) to six (or even seven) month tours. That would be far more palatable. This issue will directly impact the "reality" of a draft in the near future. The latest press I hear indicates that retention through this year is expected to meet the military's current needs---but next year, especially the U.S. Army is afraid of losing numerous troops. With anticipated needs in Iraq to stay "about the same" through 2007 - the Department of Defense will have to come up with a better plan...very soon.
When GW Bush joined the National Guard in the late 60's, it was slightly over 125% of capacity. Obviously this is not the case today. I suspect that if this war continues, or escalates, a draft will have to be reinstated. My point is that Jenna and Babs should take the moral high ground and join. I suspect that President Bush's attitude would change greatly if his own flesh and blood were in harms way. Did anyone catch the 60 Minutes interview with Bill O'Reilly yesterday? As much as I despise the pea-brain, I have to agree with O'Reilly's assessment of Rumsfeld. Donny screwed up and should not be allowed to quit, he should be fired. Anything less would be less than honorable to everyone who has served. (either in this conflict, or others)
In my opinion, I feel that we must get past this false paradigm of "left vs. right", "democrat vs. republican", if we are to have a future filled with liberty. I feel that no matter who is elected as President, that there will be a military draft after the election. There are lots of articles about soldiers going AWOL, and problems with National Guard units opposing the war. Recruitment is down. These are reports that I have read. I like reading articles at www.rense.com, and www.infowars.com. Well, here are some interesting articles concerning the draft and related issues. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Trying to counter recent Internet rumors that the military and the Selective Service System are girding for a potential draft to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Undersecretary of Defense David S.C. Chu said there is no reason to bring back the draft." http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2004/090704noplans.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Unpopular wars invite conscription. Volunteers disappear..." "It's said that the 18-year-old owes it to his country. Hogwash! It just as easily could be argued that a 50 year-old chicken-hawk, who promotes war and places the danger on innocent young people, owes a heck of a lot more to the country than the 18-year-old being denied his liberty for a cause that has no justification." http://www.infowars.com/print/ps/conscription.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "E-mails and Web logs continue to warn that Congress and the White House are moving to reinstitute a draft by next spring for all men and women 18 to 25 years old, with no deferments for college students, as there were during the Vietnam War. The Bush administration has denied having any such plans, but Democrats have seized on the issue in an attempt to energize worried young voters and mothers to vote for Sen. John Kerry. " http://www.rense.com/general57/demo.htm "In sharp contrast to all this preparation for a Spring 2005 draft by Bush, Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry has proposed a military plan that rejects any draft.." http://www.blatanttruth.org/alert.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "You can't talk about sacrifice in an election year," said Peter Feaver, a political scientist at Duke University." http://www.freep.com/news/nw/pols29e_20040929.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "A US congresswoman has called for an investigation into claims that Iraq war veterans were threatened with being sent to Iraq unless they stayed on." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3697428.stm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The United States military may run out of national guard and reserve troops for the war on terrorism because of existing limits on involuntary mobilisations" http://www.abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200409/s1200173.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Thirty percent of former US soldiers called back to mandatory duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have failed to report on time and eight have been declared AWOL" http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EE395900-0C2D-45A8-9CC2-206249EFA595.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Draft Riots Feared" "Regardless of the outcome of next November’s presidential election, the federal government will initiate a military draft in 2005, unless there is a dramatic slackening of the need for U.S. troops for the ongoing war in Iraq and for “peacekeeping” duties around the world." http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2004/090804draftriotsfeared.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Disclaimer No single version of anything ever says it all. 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Humm - good points. A 50 year old Chickenhawk does owe more to the country than an 18 year old. Agreed. Again - if this is a "Just and Noble Cause" (GW's words), then Babs and Jenna should join now, without delay. They are fit, intelligent, and ready for duty. I bet that both of them would make great Military Intelligence Officers. Of course this is not going to happen because it is always easier to send someone else's children off to war and not your own.
