A Vote for Bush is a Vote for the Draft
As regular readers know, I am an extremely proud parent of two outstanding teenagers. They are 17 and 18, and their hopes and dreams mean more to me than my own.
Their hopes and dreams don't include going to Iraq to fight in an adventure mapped out by neocons and falsely described as a "war on terror". Their hopes and dreams don't include dying in Iran or wherever else Bush may choose to send our troops if he were to be elected in November.
Their unwillingness to serve as slaves to Bush's shenanigans is not unusual. 37% of all college students said they would be "likely to try to evade the draft," while another 21% would be willing to serve "but only if stationed in the United States." Only 35% of college students today would be "willing to serve and fight anywhere in the world."
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Bush will be reinstating the draft if he gets a second term. Of course, he is presently denying any such intention, but I don't trust him in the slightest. He has lied to us often in the past, and nobody would expect him to be honest about his plans to adopt such an unpopular policy. But, if he were elected in 2004, with a vice-president who has no intention of seeking the presidency, his administration would be free to defy public opinion.
Now, even the right-wing news sources are admitting that "the Pentagon has stepped up preparations for a new Selective Service System that could allow for a full-blown draft by next year."
Look at the evidence. Our troops are stretched incredibly thin. "Stop move" and "stop loss" are two new policies introduced to force soldiers to continue their deployments indefinitely. On Tuesday, July 6, thousands of former soldiers are going to find orders calling them back to the army. Does that sound kind of like a draft to you? Do you think things are going to get better, or get worse? If they get worse, who else can they come after?
The Bush administration, egged on by chicken-hawk neocons, probably thought that they could get away with invading a sovereign nation without instituting a draft. Who knows - perhaps they could have, if they were competent. But they aren't competent, and Iraq continues to become a death trap for American troops. Now, Bush is rattling his sabre at Tehran, and God only knows what other insane plans the neocons have whispered into his ear for 2005.
If you have teenaged children, or if you know teenaged children for whom you wish a future that does not include serving as a target of enraged Iraqi's (or Iranians, or Koreans, or . . .), then, please, please, please, do not vote for Bush in November.
posted by Dan at 7/04/2004 04:18:00 PM
4 Comments:
Great post, Dan; your reasoning is airtight, and if I had kids, I'd be scared as hell. My worry is that a draft is forthcoming, even if Kerry is elected... he's also been talking the "stay the course" talk. Your post makes me realize that putting pressure on Kerry to plan to move our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan should be a top priority.
-- Jessica
Except for the fact that these folks all signed a contract to serve in the military for a period of time -- including a recall period during which they are classified as members of the individual ready reserve.
When you can show us an example of one individual who did not sign a contract with such a provision being forced into uniform, then you would be right.
Apparently you might want to learn a thing or two about enlistment contracts -- or contracts in general. SOunds to me like you don't belong on any Bar Association Board of Governors if you think that enforcing the terms of a contract to be a draft.
And the statement was that calling these people back is "kind of like a draft", which it is. I didn't claim it was illegal, did I? I didn't claim it violated the terms of their agreements, did I?
The point is, the fact that these people are being called back is evidence of the desparation of the military to get enough boots on the soil. They're running out of "volunteers."
It is like a draft only to the extent that voluntary sexual intercourse that is regretted in the morning is like a violent rape.
These folks woluntarily signed a contract and now regret being held to its terms. That is a far cry from the jackboot of government imposing conscription.
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