One of the BIG STORIES is the potential of the draft being reinstated here in America, doing away with, or supplementing the all volunteer military with conscripts...Americans FORCED into serving America. It's easy in the theoretical to say you would do what was right, or that you would serve your country. However, with the death toll rising in Bush's wrong war, and some experts seeing American troops in Iraq ten years from now, would you serve if drafted?I volunteered shortly after Vietnam, went in for the benefits if honest about it. If I were a young man in the prime of my life, with every thing to live for, I would not serve if drafted today. Bush lied to take us into war, the Pentagon seems at best clueless, and our foreign policy under Condi Rice is a joke. Further, if I had children of my own, I would not let them enlist, even as a volunteer at this point in our history. I support our troops in harms way, but would not let my own relatives risk dying for the farce that is Iraq. So, what about my readers...be honest with yourself and answer the question: If you are drafted, would you serve? For that matter, for some of us older folks that could get called up...if you suddenly got a notice calling you to active duty, would you go?
Selective Service: Ready for a draft
POSTED: 10:04 p.m. EST, November 20, 2006
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/20/selective.service/index.html
By Thom Patterson
CNN
(CNN) -- Although Congress is unlikely to follow calls from a top Democrat to bring back the military draft, the United States does have a plan, if necessary, aimed at inducting millions of young men for service. The Selective Service System, an agency independent of the Defense Department, says it's ready to respond quickly to any crisis that would threaten to overwhelm the current all-volunteer military.
"We're the fire department," said spokesman Pat Schuback at the service headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
"We're prepared to do the mission with whatever time period we're asked to do it in. Our current plan is 193 days and that was based on manpower analysis."
With an active list of more than 15 million names, Schuback said an estimated 93 percent of all men in the United States between 18 and 26 have registered for the Selective Service, as required by law.
Chris Baker, 20, of Decatur, Georgia, said he wouldn't support a draft under any circumstances.
"I don't believe it's right to send people who don't really want to go fight for the country," Baker said. "I probably wouldn't go, but I know that'd I have to go to jail for that. That's probably what I would do -- sit in jail."
But 25-year-old Donnie Deerman of West Blocton, Alabama, said he would feel obligated to participate in a military draft.
