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The current agenda of the US federal government is
> 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!
>
> Reinstatement of the draft*
>
> Pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin
> bills S 89 and HR 163) would time the program so the
> draft could begin as early as Spring 2005 --
> conveniently just after the 2004 presidential
> lection!
> But the administration is quietly trying to get
> these
> bills passed NOW, so our action is needed
> immediately.
> Details and links follow.
>
> If voters who currently support U.S. aggression
> abroad
> were confronted with the possibility that their own
> children or grandchildren might not have a say about
> whether to fight, many of these same voters might
> have
>
> a change of mind. (Not that it should make a
> difference, but 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.
>

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