Very unsettling message has come in....

[daddybear]

I received this unsettling message today:

*****

Mandatory draft for boys and girls (ages 18-26) starting June 15,2005, is something that everyone should know about. This literally affects everyone since we all have or know children that will have to go if this bill passes.

There is pending legislation in the house and senate (companion bills: S89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin as early as spring, 2005, just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections, so our action on this is needed immediately. Details and links follow.

This plan, among other things, eliminates higher education as a shelter and includes women in the draft. Also, crossing into Canada has already been made very difficult.

Actions: Please send this on to all the parents and teachers you know, and all the aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents. . . And let your children know - - it's their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!

This legislation is called HR 163 and can be found in detail at this website:

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Just enter in "HR 163" and click search and will bring up the bill for you to read. It is less than two pages long.

If this bill passes, it will include all men and ALL WOMEN from ages 18- 26 in a draft for military action.

In addition, college will no longer be an option for avoiding the draft and they will be signing an agreement with the Canada, which will no longer permit anyone attempting to dodge the draft to stay within its borders.

This bill also includes the extension of military service for all those that are currently active.

If you go to the select service web site an d read their 2004 FYI Goals, you will see that the reasoning for this is to increase the size of the military in case of terrorism.

This is a critical piece of legislation; this will affect our undergraduates, our children and our grandchildren.

Please take the time to write your congressional representative and let them know how you feel about this legislation.

www.house.gov

http://www.senate.gov/

Please also write to your representatives and ask them why they aren't telling their constituents about these bills and write to newspapers and other media outlets to ask them why they're not covering this important story.

The draft $28 million has been added to the 2004 selective service system budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005.

Selective service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that! the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation.

Please see www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html

to view the Selective Service System 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.

However, 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 permanent state of war on terrorism) proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/default.asp

This 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. College and Canada will not be options.

In December 2001, Canada and the U.S. 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 U.S. Homeland Security director, 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.

A reform 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 current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year. What to do: Tel! l your friends, Contact your legislators and ask them to oppose these bills. Just type "congress" into the aol search engine and input your zip code.

A list of your reps will pop up with a way to email them directly. We can't just sit and pretend that by ignoring it, it will go away. We must voice our concerns and create the world we want to live in for our children and grandchildren.

GWB needs that one way ticket back to Crawford, Texas now more than ever. Let's make it so!

[eyesroll]

1. I believe the bill in question is a Democratic protest bill.

Introduced by Democrats, knowing it will never get passed, to protest the fact that rich people don't have to go to war.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Yes it is a bill sponsored by Democrats

So the real question voters should be asking themselves is, which President is most likely to have to start the draft. Frankly, at this point I think it may be unavoidable, but I think the chances of not having a draft are far better with Kerry. The military is stretched far too thin. The National Guard was never meant to serve overseas. It leaves us vulnerable here. That's one of the reasons that thinking that our homeland security is better under Bush than it would be under Kerry is such bullshit. It's one thing to call up reserves. It's another thing entirely to send the National Guard to fight a war. A war is not meant to be fought by guardsmen and mercenaries. It's no wonder we're losing.

[Busch_Beer_Yes]

5. I Made the Mistake of Actually READING These Bills

I am alarmed that the sponsors of these bills are all Democrats. The bills would require EVERY person to serve two years in some sort of government service, military or other approved form of slavery. I find it interesting that most of the sponsors of this legislation are the grandchildren of former slaves!!

I also checked on the DoD website and found that the DoD does not want a general draft of any kind, that the DoD urged President Clinton to dismantle the Selective Service System in 1998 -- but Clinton refused. I checked and Kerry and Edwards both voted to EXTEND the SSS.

[politicat]

6. in some sort of government service....

You know, I'm okay with that. 2 years for rich kids to work and live in the inner cities, rebuilding crumbling public housing; Two years for middle class white kids to work in the forests, cleaning out dry brush and learning to work with kids from every background imaginable. 2 years to pay the entrance fee to live in this country and vote and be responsible for its fate?

I know that America meant more to me after my two years of public service and it meant a hell of a lot more for my husband after his 8 years of Guard service. Those years were the price we paid to be citizens.

And no, I don't bitch about paying my dues, either. (Taxes.)

Pcat

[ima_sinnic]

7. thanks, enjoy your brief stay

do you understand the concept of "protest bill"?

and IN YOUR DREAMS does the DoD "not want a general draft of any kind." please inform your ignorant self:

http://blatanttruth.org/draft.php

[ima_sinnic]

2. please see Military Draft Alert at this link:

http://blatanttruth.org/draft.php

There is an obscure SSS "Issue Paper" there (PDF) obtained by Freedom of Information Act that shows in no uncertain terms that SSS is ramping up to implement a Skills Draft of all men AND women ages 18-34 with skills in computer programming, medical, etc.

This is different than the so-called Rangel bill, HR 163, a protest bill designed to close loopholes in preferential treatment for wealthy draft-eligible people.

Hopefull DU poster Dems Will Win, who obtained the FOIA document, will chime in here somewhere and add more info.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. I know someone who's already gotten one ....

of the skills draft letters, and they're in their LATE 30's, not early. I also know of a man who'd served his 20 years, was ready to retire and his application was denied. Instead, he was deployed to Iraq for an 18 month tour, leaving a 12 year old son and a wife that has cancer.