Not sure as to the legitimacy of this email, because it honestly did come from a biased source.REINSTATEMENT OF THE DRAFT
Dear Friends and Family,
I urge you to read the article below on the current
agenda of the federal government to reinstate the
draft in order to staff up for a protracted war on
"terrorism."
Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin
bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the
draft could begin at early as Spring 2005--
conveniently just after the 2004 presidential
election! But the administration is quietly trying to
get these bills passed NOW, so our action is needed
immediately. Details and links follow. This plan would
among other things eliminate higher education as a
shelter and would not exclude women -- and Canada is
no longer an option.
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.
The Draft
$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. SSS
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.
Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and H.R. 163
forward this year, 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 remember. College and Canada will
not be options. In December 2001, Canada and the US
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
US Homeland Security Director, Gov. 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 cur-rent semester.
Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.
This article by Adam Stutz is from the "What's Hot Off
the Press" column of the newsletter of Project
Censored, a media research group at Sonoma State
University that tracks the news published in
independent journals and newsletters. From these,
Project Censored compiles an annual list (more than 20
years running) of 25 news stories of social
significance that have been overlooked,
under-reported, or self-censored by the country's
major national news media. The mission of Project
Censored is "to educate people about the role of
independent journalism in a democratic society
and to tell The News That Didn't Make the News and why."
However, I read the bill that is supposedly being proposed and frankly, it does scare me..
The link and info for the bill is the following:http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legisl ... e_home.htm
Search for "S 89", then later search for "HR 163" where it says "By Number" and you'll find the articles.
I'm not sure if this has been discussed here yet, but if it has - I apologize for the repost..
Anywho, does anyone else out there have anymore information about this or have any of you heard of this happening as well?
