If a draft is reinstated... I WILL REFUSE TO GO...

[tnhatesbush]

They can lock me up , they can do anything they want. I will not SERVE this sorry excuse that this country has become.... I surely will not serve for GEORGY PORGY.... I am sorry people, but this country is not worth dying for. I am probably making some of you mad, but I am totally ANTI WAR. I am a pacifist.... So, no matter who is the President next year... I will not go...So if any of you GOVT officials are reading this.. Go right ahead and do what you wish. I will not go..... I will not be a part of your lies, bigotry and war for oil...... I WILL NOT GOOOOOOO..... I am 33 years of age and that is probably still within a drafting age... BUT I WILL NOT GOOOO.....

[WindRavenX]

1. same here

And although I doubt Kerry would even THINK about the draft; should he sell out, I'm goin' to Canada or Europe. I will defend my country, but this is a phony war.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

3. Wondering...

Why is everyone talking about the draft right now?

[WindRavenX]

9. Iran is in the news

And if these nutjobs decided to pull an Iraq on Iran, there's no troops for that operation...
Also, there HAVE been drafts under the guise of bills floating around the House...

[tnhatesbush]

4. I will not defend it

when others do not do their part.. I am quite sure the rich and the privileged will not serve... So, therefore, why should I defend it.....???

[bluestateguy]

2. I would resist, not dodge

Going to Canada is cowardice. I would use my draft card as toilet paper and dare the government to come and get me.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

8. I'd go to Canada in a heart beat.

I'm sure parts of it are not too different from Maine. Being a native Mainer, I'm sure I'd like it there. Living in Canada is definitely better than dying in some ridiculous war.

[Green Lantern]

10. Going to Canada

took real courage, but of another sort. Many who went during "Nam continued to fight the US gov't and the draft.

It took a tremendous amount of courage to stay and resist, and was a very unsuccessful act for the most part. The gov't doesn't like it when you blow them off, and they use their power to their advantage.

The draft and anti-ROTC riots, the post Kent State riots, where truly something to live through. I was in Boston at the time, and saw a blind man beaten into the ground by the Boston police. An elderly couple who had escaped from Nazi Germany had their apartment ransacked by the riot cops. The old folks likened the actions of the BP to the Gestapo, and they were right. (the NYT and WP had front page stories about these events in Boston-might still find them in the archives.) I was a student marshal at this time, as was my wife. We protested the draft and the war for two years. ('68 to '70)

Shortly after these events in 1970, I was drafted. My choices were very limited.
I served because of issues of health to another family member.

I saved my draft card and the Greetings from the White House letter I received over the signature of Tricky Dick. I don't ever want to forget that experience.
And I don't ever want to see the draft re-instituted in this country. All the horror stories seemed true, and except for a few, the adage popular then appeared dead on- "Rich man's war and poor man's fight".

I applaud your expressions of resistance, and hope you never have to entertain the need to put them into practice.

[Dying Eagle]

5. I am 23

I also will not go. Have have two young children and they WILL not lose their father in the name of OIL and GREED!! War is evil, War is Terrorism.

tnhatesbush I am with you 110%

[southernleftylady]

6. I will seriously move to canada with my son! or germany where my family is

[freetobegay]

7. Ashcrofts notebook

Duly noted.

[TahitiNut]

11. What if real Universal National Service were enacted ...

... that required 12-36 months of service in a selection of roles from the Army or Navy to Public Health Service, National Park Service, Peace Corps, and VISTA? What if it included everyone - male, female, gay, straight, rich, poor, and physically challenged? What if such service were require to be completed some time after attaining the age of 18 and before the age of 35?

The most liberal democracies on the planet have universal service requirements, most often without such a range of choices.

[bluestateguy]

13. I also oppose National Service requirements

It's a statist, Stallinist thing to do, especially when it's the federal government doing it. It's one think if a local school district has a community service requirement for high school graduation. That's fine, but National Service in the things you suggested could be easily militarized by a Right wing Administration. It also suggests that people owe something to the state, that their lives are not their own. I endorse service for scholarship programs like AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, VISTA, and many of the programs that used to be administered by the old OEO. But those programs are voluntary, made of willing volunteers. Just as the military brass does not want a unit full of bitter, unwilling conscripts as their front line soldiers in the war on terror, I don't think social workers want a bunch of resentful, spoiled brats being forced to clean up inner city graffiti when they would rather be back at the frat house getting boozed up for Homecoming Week.

[HopeArrival]

12. What if John Kerry is telling you to go?

Would you do it then? I will if they will take me. I still think America is worth fighting for. Presidents come and go but there is still only ONE America and it is worth fighting and dying for.

[southernleftylady]

14. It it was a war that we were fighting for OUR freedom..

this war we arent...so no i wouldnt

[Bush was AWOL]

15. I would go if I believed in the war

and Kerry was president. I wouldn't go to Iraq or Iran. Now, if say Russia nuked us and we delcared war on them then I'd probably go. But, I will not fight a war in the middle east to make old white men rich. If Bush wins, I won't go anywhere under any circumstances because I quite simply don't trust him or his administration.

[bluestateguy]

16. I will reserve judgement on that

I would evaluate the conflict and the war. Is it necessary to fight? Has the government exhausted all peaceful options first? I would not simply accept the word of the president and the government because they say so.

If this nation was actually invaded by a real foreign army (no, illegal immigration from Mexico does not count), I don't think you'd need a draft. I think poeple would be swamping the recruitment centers to sign up, and those who were turned away would simply form their own militias to fight the invaders.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mopaul]

18. good for you. the prisons can't hold everyone

they will find out that there really are people out here who ain't taking this shit no more

[0007]

19. IMO If the U.S. comes with the draft the whole world will crank up

against us.