How far are we from a DRAFT?, You should shape up just in case. Options

[CJK]

not too far from a draft indeed, espicially after re-electing bush.

[福州市长]

not too far from a draft indeed, espicially after re-electing bush.

but he said he is not going to draft us...

[flipcombatmedic]

^and everybody talked about peace and peace but there is no peace

[yajthaugluv]

Yes, the government will denied that they force us into signing it but just look at it. It's a loop pole that they use. We don't sign, no aid for higher education or just benefits. So in a sense, it's against my will.

[Jigoku Z]

one sign of draft is when the US armed forces start giving large amount of money away.. like huge sign on bonus... than you'll know draft will be the next step....

[福州市长]

one sign of draft is when the US armed forces start giving large amount of money away.. like huge sign on bonus... than you'll know draft will be the next step....

....i'm scare....

[tqt]

The draft will be decided by the Congress members, not the President.

During the Vietnam War, the corrupted system will allow rich kids (like the sons of the Congress members) not to be drafted because if a person is attending college, he could get a deferment. Vice President Chenney got 5 deferments during the Vietnam War. That was like decades ago when the majority of the population did not attend college.

Now, the new law will not allow anyone to get a deferment, even with the sons of Congress members. If you are attending college, you will be drafted when the semester ends.

How many of those several hundreds Congress members have sons from ages 18-25 will probably be the deciding factor whether the U.S will have a draft or not. But technically, the rich and powerful people will have all sort of means to keep their kids from harm ways.

[flipcombatmedic]

During the Vietnam War, the corrupted system will allow rich kids (like the sons of the Congress members) not to be drafted because if a person is attending college, he could get a deferment.  Vice President Chenney got 5 deferments during the Vietnam War.  That was like decades ago when the majority of the population did not attend college.

that's okay we don't need the draft if most people are going to be f@g @$$ rich kids that dont want to be there anyway, i really think that most of the viet war was lost due to draftees that don't want to be there. i'd really stay overseas rather to see pussies come and take our jobs and make us look bad.

[Yax]

The draft will be decided by the Congress members, not the President.

During the Vietnam War, the corrupted system will allow rich kids (like the sons of the Congress members) not to be drafted because if a person is attending college, he could get a deferment.  Vice President Chenney got 5 deferments during the Vietnam War.  That was like decades ago when the majority of the population did not attend college.

Now, the new law will not allow anyone to get a deferment, even with the sons of Congress members.  If you are attending college, you will be drafted when the semester ends. 

How many of those several hundreds Congress members have sons from ages 18-25 will probably be the deciding factor whether the U.S will have a draft or not.  But technically, the rich and powerful people will have all sort of means to keep their kids from harm ways.

Although you are correct that the Draft may be decided by Congress, you should not that Congress is run by Republicans which means they report to the Republican party which is on the same side as BUSH.

[flipcombatmedic]

^also though the draft might be through congress, the president have the power to send advisors and other military aid if he wants to, and if that occurs to other parts of the world, theres no way in hell taht the regular military would be able to handle manpower

[tqt]

The draft will be decided by the Congress members, not the President.

During the Vietnam War, the corrupted system will allow rich kids (like the sons of the Congress members) not to be drafted because if a person is attending college, he could get a deferment.  Vice President Chenney got 5 deferments during the Vietnam War.  That was like decades ago when the majority of the population did not attend college.

Now, the new law will not allow anyone to get a deferment, even with the sons of Congress members.  If you are attending college, you will be drafted when the semester ends. 

How many of those several hundreds Congress members have sons from ages 18-25 will probably be the deciding factor whether the U.S will have a draft or not.   But technically, the rich and powerful people will have all sort of means to keep their kids from harm ways.

Although you are correct that the Draft may be decided by Congress, you should not that Congress is run by Republicans which means they report to the Republican party which is on the same side as BUSH.

It does not matter whether Congress is controlled by the Republican or Democrat at the moment, what matter is whether Congress members have kids ages 18-25 or not; that'll probably be the biggest factor in deciding whether the U.S will have a draft or not.

[DaiNamViet]

USA close to a draft

[yajthaugluv]

Thats when this nation start throwing us in the meat grinder.

Someone mention women will be drafted too...no not possible cause they were never registered. 2

I'm not fit for military duty anyways...hahah
Can't pass physical examinations.

[Colordevil]

I wont get drafted, cuz I got physcal conditions, hahahaha

[starry]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

As U.S. military involvement in Vietnam came to an end in 1973, so did the draft. For the first time since the days of World War II, the U.S. military shifted to an all-volunteer force; all vacancies in the armed forces were filled through recruitment and re-enlistments rather than conscription. (The requirement for young men to register with the Selective Service was not abolished until 1975, however, and it was reinstated in 1980.)

As recent U.S. military involvement in places such as Afghanistan and Iraq has required the largest commitment of American troops since the mid-1970s, and the military has had to double the deployment periods of some units, call up additional reserves, and extend tours of duty by a year in order to maintain adequate staffing levels, the specter of a resurrected draft has been looming on the mind of many a young person. Although the possibility of a reinstatement of conscription cannot be ruled out, a renewal of the draft anytime soon appears unlikely, and one implemented as early as June 2005 seems rather improbable.

As reflected in the message quoted above, the draft issue has largely come to public attention due to pair of bills introduced in Congress (S.89 and H.R.163) which seek to obligate all citizens and residents of the U.S. beween the ages of 18 and 26 (both male and female) to perform a two-year period of national service (not necessarily as part of the military), and the Selective Service's advertising for volunteers to man draft boards around the country. However, both these bills were introduced not by legislators genuinely seeking to reinstate the draft but by Democrats seeking to make an anti-war statement, and they languished in committee for 21 months before Republicans brought the House version to the floor and overwhelmingly defeated it in October 2004.
The Selective Service also maintained that the timing of ads to fill draft board positions was coincidental, part of a process of filling expired board positions that had been underway for several years:
About 10,000 to 12,000 people serve 20-year terms as unpaid board members. [Selective Service spokesman Pat] Schuback said because the current board system was set up in 1979, and the bulk of volunteers stayed the full 20 years, many of the appointments expired beginning in 1999.

That means hiring replacements has been going on for several years. Confusion arose in recent weeks when someone posted the hiring notice on www.defendamerica.mil, a Pentagon Web site about the war on terror, even though the Selective Service System is not a part of the Defense Department.

"Serve Your Community and the Nation — Become a Selective Service System Local Board Member," it said.

Several newspapers around the world wrote stories, leading to questions about whether the government was planning to restart drafting enlistees. The stories appeared as news media wrote increasingly about the Pentagon's extensive mobilization of National Guard and Reserve troops for duty in Iraq.

"It was a case of bad timing because of the war in Iraq and news about deployments," Pentagon spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said of the Web posting. "It created a tempest in a teacup."
Opinions — from both those inside and outside the military — differ as to what the manpower requirements of the U.S. armed forces will be in the near future, and whether the services will be able to continue to meet those requirements under the current all-volunteer system. And certainly not everyone agrees that general conscription is the best solution to potential staffing shortfalls, for a variety of reasons:
While many in the military support conscription on the grounds of social equity or national service, nearly all professional soldiers think that bringing back the draft now would reduce the quality of the military, while driving up its cost.

"The draft would be the Army's worst nightmare," said retired Lt. Col. Leonard Wong, now a research professor at the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks. "We have a high quality Army because we have people who want to be in it. Our volunteer force is really a professional force. You can't draft people into a profession."

A fundamental problem with a draft today, experts say, is that the historic two-year period of conscription isn't enough time to get a return on the investment in training that modern soldiers require. "There's just too much equipment [draftees] could break," Pike said.

A related problem: the cost of feeding, clothing, training and paying a large influx of unskilled personnel would gobble up funds the military needs for other purposes.

"We're a personnel-based institution," Wong said. "If we have a lot more people walking in the door, it would suck up all of our resources."
Since a reimposition of conscription would require Congressional approval, which has not yet been given, it is unlikely that a draft (even if approved by Congress) would be underway as early as Spring 2005:
And even if the draft were reinstated tomorrow, it would take at least two years before it could produce additional soldiers for Iraq and Afghanistan, the experts say.

"It will take 193 days from the time that we get started until the first person is presented to the Department of Defense," said Alyce Burton, a spokeswoman for the Selective Service. It would then take a year and a half to two years to train the draftees and form them into new combat units, Krepinovich said.
Even if the draft started up again, it might be of a much more limited nature than in previous years, with only those who could fill specialized positions in certain fields (e.g., health care, linguistics, computer technology) being conscripted.

There is no definitive answer to the question of whether or not the U.S. will reinstitute a draft. Obviously some thought has been given to the issue, but the possibility that such thoughts will be turned into reality appears rather small at this point, and President Bush has stated that there will be no resumption of the draft during his presidency. Still, conditions and attitudes can change very quickly — another event of the magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in government policy and public opinion.
Last updated:   6 October 2004

This post has been edited by starry: Nov 7 2004, 09:55 AM

[Ramen-Lover]

EVERYONE, GET READY TO BE DRAFTED.  While in high school, when I turned 18; we were made to register for the Draft.  Even if your not a US citizen, but still eligible to live and work in the US.  You are very eligible to be drafted.  I dont know if this happens at your schools also, but if it comes to having people drafted for the war.  Im packing up and heading to Canada, lol.

u can't come back to USA after that do u know that??

i'm not an american citizen i also signed for SSS, my school didn't forced me to do it..

Lol, the school didnt force it onus but one day the teacher just goes and start handing out the form. We werent told if we had a choice or not, just gave us the paper. Everyone else in class was filling it out so I figured, why not. The incentives they were giving out helped swayed me a bit also. COOKIES, man were they delicious. But seriously, when I filled out that form I never thought it would come to a draft. But with all the stories of how our US forces are being stretched to its max, I find it hard that a draft wont be coming our way. If I get drafted, Ill fight for this country. But if Im wounded, handicapped, or disfigured like so many already; the government better damn take care of me.

[Xai]

I'm going to be laughing hard when Republicans get drafted into the army. Serves them right for thinking that Bush wouldn't do this, and for being such pathetic Bible-belt losers. 2

[starry]

Can I ask you guys why you think that a draft will take place under Bush? Bills S.89 and H.R.163 were a concoction of the Democrats and they did not pass Congress. How likely is it that another bill about drafting will be brought up again?

This post has been edited by starry: Nov 7 2004, 11:40 AM

[Mantis]

There won't be a draft. The US military is downsizing, and evolving into a highly profeesional rapid deployment force, and no politician will ever convince the Pentagon to abandon this long term plan., which is already being implemented as we speak. It is the very essence of the 21st century fighting force in the making that the Pentagon brass envisions in the future, and a draft will surely fvck everything up. The US has taken 1,000 dead in a year and a half. WOW, big deal. They took hundreds of dead in ONE DAY during WWII, the casualty figures in Iraq is barely a pinprick to the US Army, and to draw comparisons with this conflict with Vietnam is simply laughable. New recruits have been on the rise post 9-11, during the same time period when the US lost a thousand men in Iraq, over 50,000 new volunteers signed up for the armed forces. With so many new recruits flooding in, certainly more than enough to fill the casualty gap, I have simply no clue why so many people are suspecting a draft.

[starry]

I have simply no clue why so many people are suspecting a draft. 

Some say it's a scare tactic that the Democrats used to get young people to vote Kerry.