Any rumors about a draft?

[blue cat]

Seems like that would be necessary in the very near future.

[joemurphy]

1. We probably need one, but it'll never happen. Iraq isn't a

popular war. It's a lot like Vietnam. The existence of a draft prompted the anti-war movement in the 60s and early 70s. The Neocons are stupid, but not stupid enough to reinstate a draft. It'd be the end of the Iraq war and the Republicans wouldn't win another election for years.

[Alacrat]

5. The conflicts going on now are not likely to end soon

which may put the draft squarely into the democrats lap, something the repugs would love to see. I don't see peace enveloping the world in the next 2 years. The party in control after 08 may have to face this, and make the very unpopular decision.

[LUHiWY]

10. How it will go....

the Repugs will take their $$$ and run....leaving behind a lot of debt....ongoing wars.....stacked SC.....a worse off environment....social turmoil in the US and the world....but they will have their profits.....and somebody else gets to clean it all up.........but hopefully this will involve a lot of prosecutions....

[ChipsAhoy]

2. Do you mean Rep. Rangel?

That's really old news now - from 2003?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/rangel.draft/

[Alacrat]

3. I've talked with a high ranking military friend

about the draft, and it's possibilities. His opinion was " educated speculation". His thoughts were: If the U.S. has to commit troops to another front, the draft will be a necessity. The draft would give exemptions to college students, only children, and disabilities, it would not exempt past drug use, or lack of a h.s. diploma, which are standards the military tries to uphold now. His opinions are just that, with a good amount of exposure to, and experience with the subject.I asked these questions concerning my brother in law, who is thinking of joining the mil. and how this would affect him.

[yellowcanine]

7. Current draft law does NOT exempt college students. Students could

get a deferment to finish out a semester or maybe even a degree depending how close they were but it would not be automatic. Being an "only child" does not get you out either. There is provision for hardship deferments but again, they are not automatic and they are for a fixed time period, usually one year. At the end of the year, the draftee has to apply again to the draft board and they determine whether the hardship still exists.

[onenote]

4. other than the one you may have just started? Nope.

Not saying its your intent. Just the way these things tend to happen

[AtomicKitten]

6. shut up -- I have a 20-year-old son

and I've been biting my nails since Junior TOOK office.

[LynneSin]

11. AK, I adore you, please check out these websites for your son!!

http://www.nyym.org/qr/co-info.html

http://www.scn.org/IP/sdmcc/co.htm

http://www.sidis.net/co8.htm

Get involved with the Quaker Chuch - they can probably help you with getting your son's CO status but even still, just remember you need a passport to cross the border into Canada now!

[AtomicKitten]

13. thanks for the info

When my son was in HS (he graduated in 2004), I raised a holy shit storm when his PE teacher invited recruiters into his PE class to talk to them about "opportunities" for their future. And then I demanded no info be handed over to the government as they were beginning to do, precipitating the opt- out form for the district. You could say I was a pioneer in resisting the draft at his school.

No worries, we have passports in hand.

My son's entire future is in the hands of Junior and I'm sure you can imagine my anxiety about that. He's two years into college now, being reamed with interest rates on student loans, and to top it off the first election he voted in (2004) was yet again another stolen election.

Is this the best America has to offer my son? I say hell no, which explains why I have little tolerance for the attempts at in-party annihilation. The Democratic Party is going to be the horse we ride to move us out of this nightmare, as imperfect and intolerable as they are to some here.

[Fleshdancer]

8. FWIW, Snopes has the draft stuff listed as "probably not true"

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

The most optimistic parts:

"The draft would be the Army's worst nightmare," said retired Lt. Col. Leonard Wong, now a research professor at the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks. "We have a high quality Army because we have people who want to be in it. Our volunteer force is really a professional force. You can't draft people into a profession."

A fundamental problem with a draft today, experts say, is that the historic two-year period of conscription isn't enough time to get a return on the investment in training that modern soldiers require. "There's just too much equipment could break," Pike said.

...

And even if the draft were reinstated tomorrow, it would take at least two years before it could produce additional soldiers for Iraq and Afghanistan, the experts say.

"It will take 193 days from the time that we get started until the first person is presented to the Department of Defense," said Alyce Burton, a spokeswoman for the Selective Service. It would then take a year and a half to two years to train the draftees and form them into new combat units, Krepinovich said.



:thumbsup:

This gives me a little hope at least.

[nebula]

9. They'll hire more "soldiers of fortune" when they need troops.

And each one probably cost at least 10 times as much as a conventional soldier, compliments of our tax dollars. I guess more windfall profit for the defense industry.

From what I read, there's over a 100,000 of them (mercenaries)in Iraq now. That's seems like incredible number so I dont know how true it is. Looks like the next goal for the GOP would be to privatize the military entirely.

[meldroc]

12. I remember hearing a few things.

The last I heard about a draft in the news was a few months ago, but yes, our beloved Selective Service is prepared to reinstate the draft.

There would actually be two drafts (though most politicians deny this.) For the first time in history, women would also be drafted. The first draft would be pretty familiar - 18-24 year old males drafted mostly for infantry duty & such. The second draft would be a special-skills draft. When reinstated, everyone between 18 & 44 would be required to reregister, and when you fill out the form, you have to tell them what kinds of skills, eduaction & job experience you have. Then, as the military runs into shortages, Selective Service will draft nurses, doctors, computer programmers, engineers, linguists, etc. as necessary.