[ This just off a mailing list .... ]
US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005
by Adam Stutz
Vancouver IndyMedia - Wednesday January 28, 2004 at 09:50 AM
http://www.vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/105146.php
The current agenda of the US federal government is to reinstate
the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on
"terrorism." ial election!
Reinstatement of the draft
Dear Friends and Family,
I urge you to read the article below on the current agenda of the
federal government to reinstate the draft in order to staff up
for a protracted war on "terrorism."
Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S89 and
HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early
as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential
election! But the administration is quietly trying to get these
bills passed NOW, so our action is needed immediately. Details
and links follow.
The Draft*
$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System
(SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as
early as June 15, 2005. SSS must report to Bush on March 31, 2005
that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for
activation. Please see website:
http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the SSS Annual
Performance Plan - Fiscal Year 2004.
The Pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all
10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots
nationwide. Though this is an unpopular election year topic,
military experts and influential members of Congress are
suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog"
in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on
"terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to
draft.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5146.htm
Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and H.R. 163 forward this
year, entitled the Universal National Service Act of 2003, "To
provide for the common defense by requiring that all young
persons [age 18-26] in the United States, including women,
perform a period of military service or a period of civilian
service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland
security, and for other purposes." These active bills currently
sit in the Committee on Armed Services.
Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the
Vietnam era remember. College and Canada will not be options. In
December 2001, Canada and the US signed a "Smart Border
Declaration," which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers
in. Signed by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Manley,
and US Homeland Security Director, Gov. Tom Ridge, the
declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among
other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and
departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more
equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher
education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to
postpone service until the end of their cur-rent semester.
Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.
US Preparing for Military Draft in Spring 2005
by Adam Stutz
Vancouver IndyMedia - Wednesday January 28, 2004 at 09:50 AM
http://www.vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2004/01/105146.php
The current agenda of the US federal government is to reinstate
the draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on
"terrorism." ial election!
Reinstatement of the draft
Dear Friends and Family,
I urge you to read the article below on the current agenda of the
federal government to reinstate the draft in order to staff up
for a protracted war on "terrorism."
Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills S89 and
HR 163) would time the program so the draft could begin at early
as Spring 2005 -- conveniently just after the 2004 presidential
election! But the administration is quietly trying to get these
bills passed NOW, so our action is needed immediately. Details
and links follow.
The Draft*
$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System
(SSS) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as
early as June 15, 2005. SSS must report to Bush on March 31, 2005
that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for
activation. Please see website:
http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the SSS Annual
Performance Plan - Fiscal Year 2004.
The Pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all
10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots
nationwide. Though this is an unpopular election year topic,
military experts and influential members of Congress are
suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog"
in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on
"terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to
draft.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5146.htm
Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and H.R. 163 forward this
year, entitled the Universal National Service Act of 2003, "To
provide for the common defense by requiring that all young
persons [age 18-26] in the United States, including women,
perform a period of military service or a period of civilian
service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland
security, and for other purposes." These active bills currently
sit in the Committee on Armed Services.
Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the
Vietnam era remember. College and Canada will not be options. In
December 2001, Canada and the US signed a "Smart Border
Declaration," which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers
in. Signed by Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Manley,
and US Homeland Security Director, Gov. Tom Ridge, the
declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among
other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and
departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more
equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher
education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to
postpone service until the end of their cur-rent semester.
Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.
