US Re-instating the Draft??

[icarus]

Government reinstating the *Draft?* Does somebody know if this is true or not?

I know from wildernessguru (military analyst) that we need at least 150,000 troops to hold Iraq really, but what he believes this is about the dream to fulfill the cold war fantasy - the ability to fight on two fronts simultaneously. It's crazy, but the military still wants it. He says the goal is to get more combat forces instead of reservists.

- In North Korea we pulled our troops from dangerous positions so that they couldn't take out 40,000 of our troops with artillery.

- Also, a quiet deployment was sent to Guam. About 12-18 B-52s were sent there to be closer to North Korea.

Both of these actions are preludes to war. The correct term is "It puts you on a war footing." It's the equivalent of moving the 7th fleet a hundred miles off the shore of North Korea.

Comments

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If the draft is reinstated, it will be much harder to dodge it than it was last time. Running away to Canada is no longer an option (at least, not after you've been drafted), thanks to post September 11 border patrol agreements. College isn't a way out, either, anymore. My advice is that if you're drafting age and don't want to fight, you should register now as someone who is opposed to war and unwilling to serve as a combatant - whether you're male or female.

Since they have that whole "don't ask, don't tell" thing, is telling them that you're gay a likely way out? (I'm neither male nor of the drafting age, just curious.)

[clymer.livejournal.com]

I have no direct knowledge either way, but I've read an article which seems to suggest that telling the military you're gay is a likely way out - at least if you're already in the military. I'd assume this would generalize to those not yet in the military, as well, but that's speculation on my part.

The article I'm referring to (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/news/2001/february/fahey1.html) quotes a member of the Navy who decided to file for CO status as saying, "Sadly, it is vastly easier to be discharged for stating you are gay than it is for stating your conscience prevents you from participating in a war."

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hm, interesting. Thanks!

Actually...

[anevilweasel.livejournal.com]

from most of the research i've done you might "officially" be put on the "we are going to get rid of you" list but most "discharges" (which they can legally do with some types of discharges) are stopped until after the draft has been removed. At least they were slowed to a near crawl.

At least this is what happened during the last draft. Honestly, don't count on the gay thing keeping you from it if you're not in the service either.

Canon fodder is Canon Fodder gay or straight.

Though I'm not up to date on entrance qualifications for the service any longer so don't take my word for much of anything when it comes to that.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I hear you practically have to shave your head and join a monastery to have your CO request be approved.

This legislation is so extreme, even if you're CO-approved, you can't get out of the military -- you're just moved to non-combat positions.

Jesus. Let's hope it's in committee to die a slow death of asphixiation by red tape.

Icarus

[clymer.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily - being a master of divinity student is one of six ways to be exempt from service. There are, as you alluded to, several levels of exemption, however. Here's a good article (http://www.angelfire.com/la3/kirstenanderberg/pagedraft.html) that explains the ins and outs of drafting (You can skip the first two paragraphs, though, as it's mostly stuff that's already been discussed here).