AOL article. "Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill Despite Denials"

[in_cog_ni_to]

The story is out there and won't die! How many people are memberes of AOL? This article is posted on the homepage. :bounce:


Rumors of Draft Are Hard to Kill Despite Denials

By CHRISTOPHER COOPER Staff Reporter, The Wall Street Journal



(Sept. 27) - The e-mails popped up this past spring and have been circulating at an increasingly furious pace. Their unsettling message: The Bush administration, bogged down in Iraq, has made a secret pact with a lame-duck senator and a liberal congressman to resume the military draft as early as next June.

Like many rumors, this one contains a germ of truth: Legislation in Congress would resurrect the draft -- this time for young women as well as young men. But "the bill is collecting dust," says Ilene Zeldin, a spokeswoman for Democratic Sen. Ernest Hollings of South Carolina, the Senate bill's author. The House bill, by Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, is dormant too. "Rangel hasn't pushed the issue," says spokesman Emile Milne. And the Bush administration has said repeatedly it has no plans to reinstitute the draft, which ended in 1973.

Despite the denials, the draft-comeback rumors seem to be gaining strength. Their resiliency suggests that many Americans have anxieties lurking just below the surface over the conflict in Iraq. With U.S. forces stretched thin in Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands of Army reservists required to serve extended tours of duty, the idea that the draft may have to be reinstituted strikes some as plausible, if not inevitable.

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry last week fueled the concern -- perhaps in a bid to improve his standing with women, who may be particularly sensitive to the potential costs of the war. Mr. Kerry hinted that the draft might return in a second Bush term. "If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is it possible? I can't tell you," Mr. Kerry said.
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http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20040927094209990020

[Bleacher Creature]

1. The rumors will be even harder to kill

when the first 18 year old gets a draft notice in the mail.

[phantom power]

2. Rumors of draft refuse to die, because they make sense.

We've got two ongoing wars, and we keep hearing generals talking about how our troops are over-stretched. They've been raiding the national guard. And we're busy rattling the sabre with Iran.

Nobody can realistically look at that situation and not think "draft".

[yolatengo]

3. why should I care?

I've been telling teens and 20-somethings for a year that a draft might happen.
They don't care (or rather; don't think it will effect THEM).

If people willfully REFUSE to vote, to give their civic consent to be governed,
then they get the goverment and the consequences they DESERVE.

And if their parents, mainly Boomers, don't see this happening, or want their
SUVs and tax cuts more than the lives of their children, who am I to argue?
I'm too old to be drafted and have no children. I remember in the mid-80's
when I was draft age thinking that fuck Raygun was going to bring back the
draft and I switched my allegiances from R to D and have voted that way
ever since.

And if they refuse to find out the truth, screw them. I'm sick of this shit.
They HAVE PLANS FOR A DRAFT, but the MEDIA let the admin flacks play
hide the salami with the info because it's a guaranteed LOSER for BUSH
in November. When he announces it on Nov 3rd, will we have buyer's
remorse? Will we impeach him? Hell, Rove will probably have him blame
it on Kerry ("If Kerry hadn't'a bad mouthed the military so bad during the
campaign, it'd've met its recruitment goals and wouldn't need a draft! Vote
GOP in 2006! Those Dummycraps hate the military!!!!!").

Bigby

[Tempest]

4. Rove polled GOP Congressmen to see if they would support draft

The GOP said they would support whatever Bush wanted.

Saw this in another article (may have been this one).

[MISSDem]

5. I don't think the draft will happen because it would be

political suicide for either party. I do think that the Bush administration will outsource the soldiering in Iraq like they have done to a degree in Afghanistan. Even one prison was outsourced in Afghanistan - even though the government now denies it.

[AngryOldDem]

7. Where have you been?

Check out this thread, one of several posted here over the last few weeks. There were others, but this is the main one. Do a search to fine subsequent discussions. THIS is what we need to be concerned about:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2349661#2349661

The Hollings and Rangel bills are smokescreens; empty bills from the time they were introduced (especially in Rangel's case), and the neocons in Defense and Homeland Security want to keep that red herring alive and well. I was not a bit surprised that AOL had this story featured on the Welcome screen -- anything to keep the ignorant masses from waking up, and anything to protect their blind faith.

Furthermore, I talked to a vet-turned-peace-activist this weekend who said that the draft boards already have their money approved and they are ready to go whenever they get the word. Which, if you read the link above, could be as soon as next spring, with the preliminaries beginning in December (contingent on a Bush win).

All the more reason Dems Will Win's work on this matter needs a kick and needs to stay kicked. Again -- I CANNOT thank Dems Will Win enough for bringing this to light.

Don't kid yourself for a minute that the draft, in some form, isn't coming back.

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. 2005...The Draft returns!

Anyone 18-34 years old...men AND women will be drafted. SPREAD THE WORD! It's in the works (secretly until AFTER THE ELECTION, of course) and will be reinstated. Read all about it at blatanttruth. Here's the link.

www.blatanttruth.com

[AndyTiedye]

6. IT'S GETTIN' DRAFTY! CLOSE THE WAR!

anybody want a bumper sticker?