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

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've got a little more information than that.

There are three documents that pertain to this. Two bills, US Senate Bill S 89 and US House of Representatives Bill HR 163. They were introduced in January 2003. They require two years military services for all men and women between the ages of 18-26.

I've not been able to determine if these were passed into law by the 108th Congress last year (it would have happened by the end of 2003). Can you find out if one or both of these were passed?

The text of the House bill HR 163 (http://www.theorator.com/bills108/hr163.html)
The text of the Senate bill S 89 (http://www.theorator.com/bills108/s89.html)


There's also a tune-up of the selective service as shown in their annual performance plan for Fiscal Year 2004 (http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html), in which they've been tasked to demonstrate they have a working system to deliver personnel by March 31, 2005. Whether this is routine or not, I don't know.

[ceilidh]

*is glad she is juuuuust over that age 26 limit*

It does make me really pissed off for my daughter, though. She's only three right now, but if this goes through it'll be there forever, likely. GRRR.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've checked out the fiscal plan for selective service, comparing the 2001 budget to the 2004. In 2001 the budget was $24.48 million. In 2004 that budget was $28.29 million. It's a modest increase and tells me that's just the normal amount it costs to keep the selective service running. So I suspect that the draft bill is something the president wants, but if they're smart they'll kill it in committee.

Icarus

[wanderingscribe.livejournal.com]

Oh no no no. Please someone say they aren't. [worries]

I'm a 22 year old female, damnit. I don't wanna go, even if these bills were passed. I don't wanna fight for something I don't believe in at all or have to kill someone for my stupid asshat-run country.

That's it. Like I said earlier, if this shit actually goes down, I'm going to Mexico, then Honduras. And staying there. (At least I know enough Spanish...that won't be a problem.)

[worries more]