So my dad sends me this warning…
This is something serious. I normally don’t get into politics or religious themes, but this need attention… Read on and decide for yourselves… Lord knows I’m not a breast beater, but this kinda torques this ol’ boy off…
Hate to say “I told you so” but… Well, anyway, this issue has been on my radar for quite awhile now (I get the Liberal Agenda faxed daily to me from the Streisand Compound). It’s just simple math; you can’t fight a protracted ground war in two countries (Afghanistan and Iraq) without a ready supplement of fresh cannon fodder.
You know the difference between Vietnam and Iraq? In Vietnam, you had to only serve your one-year stint “in country” and you were guaranteed to go home. Not in Iraq. The military has just pushed more “stop-loss” orders, which means that soldiers on the ground who have fulfilled their one-year assignment are now being kept “in country” indefinitely. Even soldiers who’ve fulfilled their complete 2/4/6-year military enlistment — guys who should not only be coming home but be discharged from the military — are being prevented from leaving Iraq.
So why did the Vietnam soldiers get off with just one year? Because there was a ready supply of cannon-fodder being drafted right behind them.
I’ve always maintained that military conscription is just plain wrong. If you can’t drum up enough volunteers for your war, then enough people believe your war is not justified. They had no problem getting volunteers for WWII; some guys even lied about their age to get in! Conscription equals slave labor.
(I’ll make an exception if they pass a law that requires two-years of mandatory public service for all 18-year-olds, but only if it gives them the choice of military or civilian service options. No one should be forced to risk death for their country.)
It’s not as if I’m anti-military. Far from it. I have more military experience than the President and Vice-President combined. OK, sure, it was six years as a sergeant in the Army National Guard’s Army Band. But still, I’ve got George W. Bush beat; I showed up for all my drills and physicals and can prove it. And between 1985 through 1990, while I was guarding America, we were never once threatened by any Soviet bassoonists! 😉
Some of you reading this may be much more conservative and right-wing than I. (Heck, Al Franken is more right-wing than I am.) So ask yourself: how can you continue to support this president and his administration? Bush is the ultimate RINO — Republican In Name Only.
You believe in fiscal conservatism? Bush has taken a budget surplus and turned it into the biggest deficit in history.
You believe in smaller government? Bush has created more executive branch positions and bureaucracy than any of his predecessors, the Department of Homeland Security being just one example.
You believe in supporting the military? Bush has cut the hazardous duty pay of our soldiers, indefinitely extended their tours of duty, not provided them with the basic equipment and armor necessary to perform their mission, and slashed the budgets for veteran’s care.
You believe in personal responsibility and accountability? Bush refuses to apologize to the 9/11 families for obvious intelligence lapses, refuses to acknowledge his friendships with such ne’er-do-wells as Ahmad Chalabi and Ken Lay, and his vice president refuses to provide the details of his secret energy policy meetings with energy industry officials.
You believe that government should not meddle in the private affairs of Americans? The PATRIOT Act gives the government the right to search your home, rifle through your credit and medical records, force librarians to disclose what books you’ve been reading, all this without your knowledge or consent, all because they decide you might be a terrorist.
I know it is going to be tough for you, but you just have to vote for John Kerry this November. Think of it as a wake-up call to the Republican party that they need to get back to the core conservative values. Tell them you don’t want your party to continue to be hijacked by these neo-conservative ideologues. And don’t let them distract you with that “gay marriage” non-issue — the gays are here, they already are shacking up, you can’t stop it. I promise we’ll compromise and let you call it a “civil union”, OK?
____________________________________________________________________
|
_ | "RADICAL" RUSS BELVILLE | Read More at http://radicalruss.net/blog/
| Portland, Oregon U.S.A. | Permission is granted for reprint of this
| (c)2004 - Russ Belville | post, as long as this footer is included.
—–Forwarded Message from my dad—–
Mandatory drafting for boys and girls (age 18-26) starting June 15, 2005, is something, I believe, everyone should know. This literally affects EVERYONE since we all have or know children that will have to go if this bill passes.If there are children in your family, READ this.
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program’s initiation so the draft can begin at 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.
Even those voters who currently support us. Actions abroad may still object to this move, knowing their own children or grandchildren will not have a say about whether to fight. Not that it should make a difference, but 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, ACTIONS, 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!
Please also write to your representatives to 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.
$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. 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 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
http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html
Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward this year, http://www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/default.asp
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. 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 current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.