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[ffutures]

If you're in the USA you probably ought to be aware of this:

Copied from dafnap who apparently got it from mangoprophetess

The US Congress is considering a bill to reintroduce the draft (search for the term "HR00163")

I'm not American or involved in US politics so I don't know how serious this is; is it lunatic fringe or likely to come off? Or just possibly something that gets introduced every Congress then put on the back burner so that it can be rushed through quickly if needed for WW3 or whatever?

Comments

[jackwalker.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't consider it all that likely just yet. The main driver for it actually seems to be from people who oppose the current administration's aggressive foreign policy. It's a statement of "all right, you want to claim we're at war, we'd better behave as if we're at war." Naturally, since a draft would be extremely unpopular, the administration would not want to see it go into effect, so the bill is actually something of a poison-pill initiative.

Of course, the issue has been raised now, so it will probably be easier to raise again in the future. Besides, US armed forces are showing signs of overstretch in Afghanistan and Iraq, and if another conflict came up just now we might be hard-pressed to find the troops for it. So the notion may catch on with more people as time goes on.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks, that looks plausible. I hope it doesn't come to that, I don't know anyone who was drafted or conscripted that has a good word to say about the process.

[mr-wombat.livejournal.com]

I believe the point of that bill was to ensure a fair draft. It removed a lot of the old get out clauses that allowed the children of the rich and powerful to avoid service or to ensure they were deployed well away from any combat (like say in Canada). In a sense, the guys who proposed it are doing it as a deterrent to the republicans since passing it means that their kids could very well be drafted and sent into combat.

[ckd]

Donald Rumsfeld said (when extending some tours of duty) that "people are fungible".

Me, I say, let's take him at his word. Reinstate the draft. Start with all the chickenhawks who favored both Vietnam and the invasion of Iraq, but managed to get student deferments (Cheney) or National Guard slots (GWB), etc. Send them over and send back the folks who've had their homecomings delayed on very short notice.

For that matter, since GWB is so concerned about the feelings of family members of those serving in Iraq that he bans photos of flag-draped coffins, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if his daughters Jenna and Barbara were drafted.