MILITARY DRAFT TO BECOME ACTIVE: June 15 2005

[EnfantTerrible]

If this bill passes ALL MEN AND WOMEN 18-26 will be called up for mandatory active duty.

I can't get a direct link to the bill so go to:http://thomas.loc.gov/

Enter HR 163 in the Bill Number space and hit search.

[MikeG]

1. Who do you think the Steelers will get?

[EnfantTerrible]

4. No one 18-26 if this passes

[Dems Will Win]

14. This is Dems Will Win, DU's Draft Expert in Residence!

Allow me to straighten this thread out.

AHEM!

Don't be confused by the Rangel DRAFT PROTEST BILL and the new BUSH SKILLS AND COMBAT DRAFT ACTIVITY that I've been reporting on. It's easy to get mixed up because both would draft women and both would expand the age up to 34 from 25. BUT Rangel's bill is a protest bill and hasn't a PRAYER of passing because it DRAFTS WOMEN for COMBAT.

The GOP hates that idea. Rangel proposed it because he knew it wouldn't pass but it would make it

The NEW BUSH SKILLS DRAFT would only DRAFT women for NON-COMBAT skills job.

They are two different animals.

The SSS secret Issue Paper which was an agenda for a 2003 top-level meeting between the head of the SSS and Deputy Undersecretary Abell in charge of Personnel and Readiness of the DoD, see: http://www.blatanttruth.org/selective_service091304.pdf

It's important that we not mix these up.

Here are the differences between the RANGEL PROTEST BILL and the secretive behind-the-scenes activity at the SSS and the DoD to ready not only a BUSH COMBAT DRAFT in 2005 but also a BUSH SKILLS DRAFT and BUSH MEDICAL DRAFT in 2006 or sooner.

RANGEL PROTEST BILL

1. Would replace current draft legislation drafting only men for combat, retaining current exemptions such a high school and Conscientious Objector status
   
2. Drafts Women for combat as well as men, ages 18-34
   
3. Does not draft for skills, combat draft only
   

ACTUAL BUSH SSS ACTIVITY TOWARD A 2005 DRAFT

1. Could draft MEN ONLY for combat, 18-25 (Current law)
   
2. "Groundwork being laid" (SSS Spokesman Amon) for a NON-COMBAT SKILLS DRAFT, men and women age 18-34. 2-year process to gear up SKILLS DRAFT started nearly 2 YEARS AGO in Feb. 2003, meaning a skills draft would be ready in 2005. (a new law wuold be passed if Bush gets back in)
   
3. The MEDICAL DRAFT registration data collection is also going to be readied for operational use in 2005 by using the SKILLS DRAFT work they've done and make the reg card you'd fill out at the Post Office contain all the listed medical skills. This means the Medical draft would be ready in 2005, men and women age 20-44. (This draft like the current combat draft for men 18-25, is already the law of the land)
   
4. The secret http://www.blatanttruth.org/selective_service091304.pdf>Issue Paper actually proposes being able to call a SKILLS and MEDICAL DRAFT WITHOUT calling a combat draft.
   

The biggest difference of course is that the RANGEL PROTEST BILL will NEVER happen and the NEW BUSH DRAFT has already begun gearing up for 2005.

SKILLS DRAFT AND NEW COMBAT DRAFT TIMELINE

Feb. 11 2003 - Top-level meeting between the head of the SSS and Deputy Undersecretary Abell in charge of Personnel and Readiness of the DoD on the SKILLS DRAFT. This is the meeting of the secret Issue Paper, revealed by the Freedom of Information Act in May. The SSS goes back encouraged enough to do some more planning.

Summer 2003 - Drive to start filling DRAFT BOARD vacancies by asking current board members to find new ones.

Fall 2003 - DoD announces critical skills shortages in linguists, computer experts and engineers. SSS Director Brodsky orders the designing of the SKILLS DRAFT procedures, the reg card and the massive database needed to track every young American under 35 and their skills. Brodsky, who "plays" JE McNeil and other anti-draft leaders by calling them regularly and shmoozing them, lies to McNeil telling her that in February of 2003 the SSS had to "justify their existence" before a hostile committee--when in reality the SSS and DOD were having the SKILLS DRAFT meeting and he himself had just started designing the new system and making it his top priority.

Sept 2003 - Draft board recruitment ad goes up on Web.

November 2003 - Draft board ad scrubbed!

Dec. 2003 - Brodsky announces the SKILLS DRAFT to be the "top priority' of the SSS in newsletter and tells of rapid progress to come.

March 13, 2004 - Word of SKILLS DRAFT leaks out in a SF Chronicle story and the SSS admits it and tells reporters it’s just a planning contingency. In an attempt to throw the press off, the SSS also says it would take 2 years to gear up and work out the kinks for the SKILLS DRAFT and that there is no funding for it. Eric Rosenberg, the reporter on the story, finds out about the Feb. 11 meeting Issue Paper and files a Freedom of Information Act request to get it.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/13/MNG905K1BC1.DTL


May 1, 2004 – Article on SKILLS DRAFT leaves out key points of how skills conscription would be expanded to fill labor shortages throughout Dept of Homeland Security, 1/3 of government, how the SKILLS DRAFT can be called without a combat draft, how SKILLS INDUCTEES will be inducted within a mere 90 days of reauthorization, that the SSS wanted to “promptly” change the very MISSION of the SSS and so on. The article does, however, reveal many major point of sweeping plan. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/171522_draft01.html

Sept 13, 2004 – Issue Paper agenda memo of key Feb 2003 meeting posted on the Web at http://www.blatanttruth.org/selective_service091304.pdf sample:
"while a conventional draft may never be needed, a draft of men and women possessing these critical skills may be warranted in a future crisis if too few volunteer."

2004 – MOCK DRAFT LOTTERY HELD, SAMPLE MEDICAL EXAM REPORT ORDERS ISSUED TO MAIL LIST. Alternative Service geared up for first time in 31 years! Papers to place Conscientious Objectors with employers actually drawn up. SSS brought up to 95% operational capability, full Medical draft capability set for 2005, all DRAFT BOARD vacancies filled by Spring 2005! On March 31, 2005, the SSS Director must report to the Congress that the entire system is primed and ready to open 2,000 draft board offices and start inducting within 75 days, or June 15, 2005.

From Family Circle July 13
COULD YOUR CHILD BE DRAFTED?

http://www.gjusa.com/news/pressReleaseDetails.jsp?id=4141


According to retired U.S. Army Colonel David Hackworth, a military analyst and one of the most decorated officers in the army, the U.S. military is now so shorthanded that a whopping 40 percent of the 135,000 troops being rotated into Iraq are National Guard members and reservists.

-snip-

Both the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld deny that a draft is in the works, yet there are signs to the contrary. For example, last fall, Presidential advisor Karl Rove polled Republican members of Congress on how they felt about he draft. They said they’d support the president. Also, last fall, the Defense Department’s website posted an ad for local Selective Service System board members, and according to the Selective Service Annual Performance Plan for 2004, before next March 31 draft boards must be potentially operational within two and a half months of a return to conscription. Increasingly, members of Congress, including Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE), are calling for a draft.

BUSH '04 = DRAFT '05

KERRY '04 = PNAC OUT THE DOOR?

http://blatanttruth.org/draft.php



PRINT THE PDF AND HANG EVERYWHERE: http://somnamblst.tripod.com/draftalert.pdf

[Baclava]

28. We got Big Ben

We're set for the next 10 years...

[snoogins]

2. lolinternet /nt/

[jtb33]

3. Isn't this old news?

It's from January 2003 - before the SHtF in Iraq and Afghanistan. It basically looks like a bill for conscription like many other countries have.

[EnfantTerrible]

5. It's new to me

If this is old news then I guess I'm an ass. Sorry.

[Palacsinta]

6. No, you're not an ass!

Maybe you just heard about this now, but so what? There was a segment on the draft on CBS......the head of the SS said everything is in place and he can have the draft up & running in 6 months. (Note...he did not say it WOULD be......just that he could do it!)

[EnfantTerrible]

7. Thanks for helping me to save

a little face.

B-)

[Dems Will Win]

15. It's easy to be confused, the Rangel bill will never even get to the floor

Dupe

[EnfantTerrible]

16. Thanks for all the info

It's going to take me some time to read and re-read to understand what it all means.

[Dems Will Win]

19. Ask me anything!

[AngryOldDem]

24. If you learned some useful information...

...there's nothing to apologize for. Anytime this issue gets a chance to be reposted and reexplained, the better. Don't worry about it.

[hellbound-liberal]

8. The story isn't that old. Here's a link to www.projectcensored.org

that chose it as one of the top 25 censored news stories of the year.

http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2005/24.html

[EnfantTerrible]

10. Cheers

I never trust myself to post things this specific for fear of being REALLY out of the loop...
high school anxieties return when I'm on DU and I'm 35 yrs old. Thanks for the link and the boost.

[Ernesto]

21. Qst4Q.... Your're doing fine!

This kind of crap NEEDS to be talked about. Old news or new, this is serious business.... Live, learn & pass it on!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

27. i trust "projectcensored" ...i have been buying their books since 1992

everyone should read them....thanks for the post

[Fleshdancer]

9. I hope not. I've already bet 5 people that it would be in May

I would hate to be a whole month off my prediction.

[SalParadise]

11. Don't get too excited about this.

Look at the bill's sponser - Sen. Rangel - this was a "stunt" bill he proposed as a "put up or shut-up" to the chickenhawks in favor of the Iraq war.

[supercrash]

13. Yep..

You are correct

This is not the current draft bill

[jerryman814]

12. this is what I'm talkin; bout!!

Deferments from national service under this Act may be made for--

(2) physical or mental disability.

tee hee hee! I'm CRAZY ... CCRAZY I TELL YA!

[phylny]

17. I wrote to my congresswoman and my two senators about my concerns

regarding the draft. One of my senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton, e-mailed back with this information:

Thank you for taking the time to share with me your concerns
regarding the military draft. This is a subject of great concern to
many of my constituents and I take this issue very seriously.

A number of New Yorkers have contacted me about the possibility
of an involuntary military draft. As you know, in recent years, our
superb armed forces have fought on behalf of our nation in
Afghanistan and Iraq, and have performed an essential role in
many other places around the world. This all-volunteer force is the
most effective military the world has ever known. Our military
leaders have assured us the armed forces will be able to continue to
attract and retain qualified volunteers to fill the ranks of the
military services. Therefore, I strongly oppose reinstituting the
draft.

As you may know, I am a member of the Senate Armed Services
Committee. Please be assured that I will continue to work hard in
the Senate to support our armed forces and to provide them
everything they need to be successful. Thank you again for
contacting me. Please check my website at
http://clinton.senate.gov for updates on this and other important
matters being discussed before the United States Senate.

Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton

=========

I suggest everyone else who is concerned take a few minutes to e-mail your representatives and tell them of your concern.

[EnfantTerrible]

18. Hillary Clinton

is my rep as well. I'm going to write to her now. Thanks

[mark414]

20. christ people this is a PROTEST BILL

both Rangel and Hollings (in the Senate) introduced identical bills as a protest to the war. they know that they will never get anywhere because they also call for women to be drafted.

they are simply a means to make the american populace understand just what could be at stake here.

rangel and hollings have even said they wouldn't vote for their own bills

they were proposing this bill as a way to get people to realize that if they support this war they'd better be prepared to make sacrifices for it. not only in protest of the war itself, but of the fact that the great majority of our military is made up of poor or rural kids who have no options other than the military.

[EnfantTerrible]

23. I understand that now

However, I do think that the possibilities it addresses are worth some exploration... I don't feel it's alarmist to respond to this bill, though I do admit to being alarmed by it and am now somewhat relieved to know it's origin. Why I believe it is important to contemplate is that these fictions may quickly become fact and people will stand there scratching their heads and saying, "we weren't supposed to take that seriously... it was in protest... etc." as we help our sons and daughters pack to ship out.

I didn't know what kind of dialogue this thread would open, but I haven't been disappointed in the response... even if it wasn't what I imagined it would be. I've learned alot and now have a trove of new questions and conscerns growing out of peoples contributions to this topic.

Thanks for keeping that dialogue open.

[PsN2Wind]

22. Never EVER pass up the opportunity

to point out to people, "your boy is almost grown, he'll be registering for the draft soon, Huh?" or "isn't it going to be odd having your daughter registering for the draft?". When the realization of what might take place to them and theirs is thrust upon them it might just focus their attention on the direction our country is going.

[EnfantTerrible]

25. kick

I remember registering for the draft when I turned 18. A few years later Destert Storm happened. It was terrifying to contemplate going to fight in a conflict that, at 20 yrs old, I had no understanding of or interest in. Though the reality of a draft, then, was exceedingly remote it still shook me up. I can't imagine being 18 now and facing the liklihood of some kind of draft... whether it be for combat or skills.

At the beginning of this invasion I remember thinking that the draft would never be reinstated because the country would never continue to support a war where you had no choice but to put your child in harm's way. I am questioning that now and feel very naive for ever thinking it in the first place.

[gandalf]

26. I read Democrats prepared the draft idea,

still before the beginning of the Iraq war, to achieve an equal participation of all groups of society in war activities. Is that correct?