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It has become increasingly clear to everyone (except Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld) that the U.S. Armed Forces are simply not large enough to cover all the adventuring that the Bush Leaguers are planning. While not admitting it publicly, several studies are underway about reinstating the draft as a way to replenish our overworked and tired men and women currently serving overseas. To do this, the President would have to activate the Selective Service System and the 2000 Draft Boards that are in place all across the country. Many of these Boards are in the process of recruiting new members to fill their ranks, as death, retirements, and old age have left many of them understaffed. Since all Board members are appointed by the President, they are looking for jingoistic right-wing yahoos who will back this administration's disastrous policies and "rubber stamp" the number of people needed into the Armed Forces, without necessarily taking the time to adequately examine the beliefs of those who might be conscientious objectors. We at VFP have a unique opportunity at this point. As veterans ourselves, we know what the armed forces are like. Many of our members are familiar with combat and the realities of war. We know that there are people out there who---honestly and forthrightly---believe that there are better ways to solve conflicts than killing others. But past experience has shown that too often those people are not given an adequate chance to be heard before being railroaded into the armed services. We have an opportunity to change that. If you want to make sure that people of conscience are given an adequate hearing before their Draft Boards, you can register to serve on your local Board. It's a simple process:

1) go online to the Selective Service Website: www.sss.gov

2) go to the bottom of the page where you'll see the option "Board Member Application"

3) Fill out the form and hit "Submit"

4) In a number of weeks, you should receive a longer form which you need to fill out and send back. Please send it back with a "Return Receipt Requested"; otherwise, they can claim they never got it.

5) Wait to hear from the President. It is important that as many of us who can do this. Under the current administration, membership in Veterans for Peace alone will probably make you ineligible for an appointment. But we must be able to document this. When the draft comes, it will be important for people for whom war is anathema to be able to demonstrate that they are not getting an adequate or fair hearing in front of their local draft boards. Or, in the unlikely event that you are appointed to a Board, for you to make sure that other Board members are doing their duty to truly listen to those who are conscientious objectors. If you have the time and meet the requirements, please seriously consider doing this.

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Newsweek
Updated: 8:15 p.m. ET June 04, 2004

June 4 - It’s one of the Internet’s most persistent rumors: The Pentagon and the White House are quietly laying plans to reinstate the military draft—as soon as the 2004 presidential election is over.

The president, the secretary of Defense and any number of senior lawmakers have all insisted that a draft is not necessary—nor in the works. “I don’t know anyone in the executive branch of the government who believes that it would be appropriate or necessary to reinstitute the draft,” Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in an April speech. “There isn’t any reason in the world why we can’t manage this force better with less stress on it, and it simply requires changing the rules, changing the requirements, changing the regulations in ways that we can manage that force considerably better.”

But that hasn’t stopped the conspiracy theorists. “Most Americans believe there’s no way that a draft can happen, but it doesn’t take a lot of vision to see it right around the corner if we pick up one or two more enemies,” says Scott Kohlhaas, the state chair of Alaska’s Libertarian Party who launched a Web site called:

http://www.DraftResistance.org

in late 2002. And while 63 percent of 18-29 year olds in a NEWSWEEK GENEXT poll conducted late last month think it is unlikely that the draft will be reinstated, a full 36 percent say it’s likely a military draft will be reactivated.

But how real is another draft? In the past year, some lawmakers have urged that a draft for military service be reintroduced, most notably New York Rep. Charlie Rangel and South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings, both Democrats, who have sponsored bills to that effect, primarily as a way to protest against war in Iraq. Though both bills (S. 89 and H.R. 163) remain stuck in committee—and Sen. Hollings was unable even to garner any cosponsors for his bill—one widely forwarded e-mail letter claims the administration is “quietly trying to get these bills passed now” so the draft could begin as early as the spring of 2005.

Dan Amon, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, which has about 13.5 million men between the ages of 18 and 25 registered, says he’s heard the rumors. But he insists: “That is just not the case.” While the agency was asked to look at a special draft for health-care personnel should one be needed, he says the agency’s report on the subject is “gathering dust on the shelf” and that there are no plans of implementing either a targeted or a general draft. “We take our cue from the Department of Defense and from Congress,” he says.

The possibility of a reviving the draft, says Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who serves as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, would only come up should there be a “massive surge requirement” over that demanded by current military operations abroad.

But a series of headlines detailing new military service extensions in Iraq and the deployment of reservists have done little to quell suspicions. This week, the Army announced an expansion of its so-called stop-loss policy that would require soldiers who are being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan to extend their active duty at least until their unit’s terms of deployment are over. That means that thousands more troops could be forced to stay in the service months longer than they’d anticipated. In a speech the next day, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry called the extension a “backdoor draft” and said soldiers are being stretched too thin.

Kerry acknowledged that the military’s stop-loss methods—which include delaying retirement and preventing enlisted personnel from leaving the service, as well as extending tours abroad—have increased forces by an estimated 30,000 troops. But he vowed that should he become president, he would add 40,000 more troops who “will not be soldiers who’ve already been on the front lines but new volunteers trained and ready to defend their country.”

Hunter says the new defense bill passed by the House this week, would add close to that, about 39,000 more troops. He doesn’t see a problem in filling any newly created slots in the military. “You have an all-volunteer military, which is a little more than half the size we had in 1991 during the gulf war,” says Hunter. “And last I checked, most of the recruiters are meeting their goals.”

But some branches are having a harder time recruiting new troops than others. “The challenges are greater than usual this year,” says National Guard spokesman Reginald Saville. The National Guard is down by about 5,000 to 6,000, he says—lower than usual for this time of year, when recruiting typically goes into high gear.

That’s in part because members of the National Guard, once nicknamed “weekend warriors” because of their part-time service requirements, are being called to duty in large numbers. The National Guard is supposed to maintain a force of about 350,000 (the Air National Guard has about 107,000 members). About half of the Army’s National Guard are now either mobilized or on alert (meaning they’ve been told there is a strong possibility they will be mobilized). “We have gone from being a strategic reserve force to being an operational force,” he says.

Saville says about half the new recruits each year typically come from the Army, but many who are leaving are choosing not to enlist in the Guard now since it is not looked at as being “part-time” anymore. That’s made the National Guard more dependent on recruiting graduating high-school students, who have been reluctant to join after reading headlines about the number of Guardsmen being called to duty—and, in some cases, being killed—in Iraq.

Those who would be eligible for a draft today had not been born yet when the country last conscripted men into service 31 years ago. At that time, the United States was embroiled in a war in Vietnam that would claim the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. About 2.59 million people (both volunteers and draftees) served in Vietnam during the war, which lasted from 1964 to 1973, when the draft ended.

About 135,000 troops are now serving in Iraq, with thousands of others stationed from Kosovo to Korea to Kabul. Combined, there are significantly fewer Americans in uniform today than during the Vietnam years, when 9 million were on active duty. About 1.4 million military men and women are on active duty now (more than 2 million, if reservists are added to the tally), according to the Defense Department.

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Date:  Thursday May 13, 2004  3:37 pm
Subject:  Chante Wolf on the Draft


Is There a Draft in the Room? Chante Wolf

"Yes!", "No, absolutely not!", "Are You Nuts?", "The military does not have time to train all the new recruits for a draft" . blah, blah, blah.For all the rhetoric bouncing around in the media land of military and governmental propaganda and election attention mongering, the draft haslifted too few eyes.

One side claims that a draft would include the rich law makers in the WhiteHouse and their daughters! The other side claims that the responsibility fora never-ending war on terrorism will need to be felt by ALL citizens. Bothsides claim the same thing, but fall short of telling the truth. The billsin the house and senate, H.R. 163 and S 89 are called the "Universal National Service Act of 2003"

This is what Kerry is calling for, and Bush is staying silent about, a mandatory 2 year military training service. This will pull America in linewith Israel, Spain, Germany, France and other countries, who have this requirement for men and women. It will also be used to fulfill the vacancies being experienced in Iraq, that quiet black sucking void of death, occupation, rape and torture called "liberation for life, liberty, freedom and democracy."

So that is my take on it. Yes, at some point the top brass and war profiteers in Washington will need fresh meat and landmine fodder to support their twisted ego and altered realities of conquering the Middle East. So be ready to offer up your young to sacrifice their flesh for myth, national patriotism, false heroism and post trauma. And be ready to dress your young women for the service of troops in various positions, from actual duty to that of the laid back maiden ready for her returning man. Service is the sexual service for the men of the country, of the corporations, the mercenaries and the troops. Just ask the 200+ women of the first Gulf War and the 125+ of this War on Terrorism how they ended up raped or gang raped as being part of their service to their country? You can also ask the women who were served up for prostitution by the US corporation, DynCorp.

The Draft! Yes, I hear some parents and veterans say, "fine, bring it on, maybe that will wake the rest of those flag waving nut cases right up!" "Sure, let Dubai send his twins off to Phallus!" "Let's send the entire Senate and House of Representatives kids off to the thick of it, see how they will like them coming home in pieces or in the silver bullet!" But I now say, "be very careful what is asked for!" I was one of the comments above, but now I feel NO! Not one more youthful life is to be a wasted death or dismemberment just because the adults don't talk to each other. No more air to the fire! Not one more body to be evaporated for Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Alienate Technologies, DynCorp, Bethel, Halliburton, KRB, Blackwater, GE, or IBM!

It is time to take the oxygen out of the fire to kill the growing flame that is spreading throughout the Middle East! Snuffed right out it would be if everyone said "No way, not my kid, not my daughter!", "No, Sir! I am standing down!" Such a simple word, NO is and such a powerful non-violent act. You see they can not have a war when everyone refuses to go, to fight, to pull the trigger, push the button, press on the gas of the tank or press the trigger to launch cluster bombs or open the bomb bay doors. And if they still support the war, then they best shine up their own shoes, fill out a will, send their lives into storage, pack, get fitted for a new uniform and get ready with an M-16 to go fight it themselves! We don't need the draft! The parents have offered to go instead! "Why, of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don't want war, neither in Russia, nor England, nor for that matter, Germany. That is understood, but after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simpler matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

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-- Herman Goering. Long time Nazi, Reichmarshall, and heir-apparent to Hitler. Statement made while imprisoned at Nuremberg after WWII.

Military Draft: Neo Con Agenda Makes it Necessary
Republicans Borrow and Spend to get Cannon Fodder

The previous poster is to be commended for taking the time to expose the sponsorship and detail of the "Military Draft" bills circulating in Congress.

I am a firm believer that dialogue between citizens, with full access to the truth, produces the best result.

To get closer to the truth, one has to examine MOTIVES.

HR.163 / Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Rangel introduced this bill before the war started because he was incensed (representing Harlem) that children of poverty were the ones who were fighting this war. If the war was indeed for oil, or for Zion, as some think, then one might ask whether children of oilmen, or of Zion, were also dying. He figured one way for people to take the killing seriously was to make it as potentially fatal for the sons and DAUGHTERS of the rich as the poor. Females gotta go (Hi Jenna, Barbara!) and no college deferments. No scooting to Canada either (Ashcroft (R) quietly helped plug that hole). I see that Jim McDermott (WA-7) is listed as a sponsor of the house bill. Anyone who knows HIS politics knows that he is not trying to provide cannon fodder for this war!

S.89 / Fritz Hollings (D-SC)

I can't speak to Sen. Hollings motivations. Someone should ask him. I'd conjecture that, given his recent statements about the war in Iraq being motivated by Israel, that he seeks to draft the children of Zion, just as Rangle seeks to draft the children of the Rich.

COMMENT: These bills say "IF there is to be a draft, it will be equitable"

COMMENT: These bills have been WILDLY successful in stimulating discussion; look at the numbers of interested readers. Democracy jump-started. The young citizens who are incensed at a draft because their life is impacted should expand their view a bit, but good start.

Let's examine the possible motivations of the Bush administration in NOT asking for a draft. Here are some thoughts:

(1) Rumsfeld first thought that this could be a "high-tech" war, not a people war. He chased Shinseki into retirement when the general opined that it'd take 200,000 troops to stabilize the country. Profits high with hi-tech war; profits low with people war. Rumsfeld had HOPES that he wouldn't need a lot, but he was wrong. We are at 138,000 and climbing.

(2) Rumsfeld figured he'd call up the Reserves and National Guard, and use them in ways they weren't intended. So don't need to get NEW soldiers, just need to OVERWORK the ones we have. So call up those groups, and extend tours of duty. The NEO-CONS have been avoiding the draft issue because they know it would be unpopular. They wanted a nice quiet war.

(3) Pentagon hires mercentaries, privatized military to do the dirty work, when we don't have enough new inductees. Hard to find out how many we are using, but they are paid MANY times as well as our troops. So much better that the military is now struggling with attrition by those who could do the same job for much more pay. Oh, and let's not forget that those private firms aren't subject to the same "rules of engagement" as our military. They're "civilian contractors". We can even use our Israeli contractors to help with interrogations.

(4) Money cures a lot of ills. The war that was "only" going to cost $60B is now going to cost MANY times that. That money will buy mercenaries, and together with Bush's "fast-track trade authority" can be used to induce some other governments to send THEIR children to die.

(5) And if they don't want to send their citizens to our war, then heck, let's just open the floodgates to Mexican "temporary workers" and give them automatic citizenship if they serve in Iraq. That should get lots of cannon fodder. And that way, the brown people can kill the brown people, so no biggie.

BUT ...

In spite of all those dials and levers that the NEO CONS had, for running a high-profit, low people, back-room war, they are STILL in trouble. And you know what? They will need a draft, but they sure as h*ll don't want to SPONSOR it! Let the Democrats sponsor it. The real key is whether it is voted in or not. If Republicans are opposed to a draft, then they will vote it down, since the control Congress. Or maybe they'll vote it through just as a gesture of respect to the Democrats - RIGHT ... Besides, they can figure out later how to keep the children of privilege from getting shot at.

So now the NEO-CONS need the draft but don't want to say so. So they spin up the selective service boards, stack the appeals boards and wait for the bills to pass, then blame the Democrats.

HR 487 / Ron Paul (R-TX)

Enter Ron Paul, Republican, but "conspiracy theorist" and truth teller. Evidently he can't get used to the stink and want to surface the plot by blocking NEO CON access to drafted kids, even if it was sponsored by Democrats.

BOTTOM LINE

It is not the draft that is wrong; there is sometimes a place for the draft.

It is this whole d*mn war with Iraq that is wrong. The secret agenda is wrong. The subversion of our Constitution and Bill of Rights is wrong. If this war were not founded on a lie, young people would sign up. Many did before.

Americans were DRAGGED into this war by Bush and his friends. They DO NOT INTEND TO LEAVE. If young people cannot help to unseat this man, and all those connected to him, then as Commander in Chief, he will stay and a draft will be needed. If there is a draft, BUSH and his NEO-CON friends will be responsible, whether they introduced the bills or not.

So, welcome to the 60's. Your turn now.

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