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Aug. 27th, 2006 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pseydtonneThe Armed Forces of the United States are running out of soldiers they can cycle into Iraq and Afghanistan. There are already 150 thousand soldiers in the Armed Forces. Recently the Marines and the Army ran final rounds of involuntary call-ups from their back catalogs of reservists. These "backdoor drafts" may not be enough to get the quotas. We are getting very close to the return of involuntary conscription in America.
That's right: a draft. I'm not talking beer, folks. I normally skip the politics in my LJ but I'd like to take a moment to review a piece of news that you may have missed this week.
There are only so many people that will volunteer, no matter the offer made. No matter what the salescritter -- err, recruiter -- tells you, the National Guard Reserves is an eight-year bid. Folks are figuring this out. This is a likely factor in recruiters missing targets.
America ended its draft in 1973, as we completed our pullout from the Vietnam War. One of the compromises made is that there would be no student deferment should a draft become necessary in the future, as that trick allowed a lot of men to avoid being drafted and merely wind up doctorates in debt. In 1980 they created Selective Service, which was the return of draft cards without a war. This means the infrastructure is ready should the demand kick in.
Summary: if you're young enough to be drafted, you will not be able to hide out at college. You will be tasty meat for a drill sergeant and you'll get a shiny gun to wave around Basra. Stop thinking this doesn't affect you.
I'm going to keep this as even-handed as possible. I know that not all of you oppose the war. My own stance on the war is too complex to summarize without ruining the groove of this post. Let me just put some pointers out there.
If you are in favor of the war and are of age to serve, now is the time for you to enlist. This is not someone else's war: this is yours. Go buy some stock in it. This will save others from being drafted.
If you are of draft age, it's time for you to do some research on the candidates in your upcoming elections. Which way has your congressperson voted on the war resolutions of the last few years? Better yet, who is your rep in the House? Who are your senators? Which committees are they on? Apathy will kill you.
-to the shores about 2000 miles east of Tripoli, Ps/d
That's right: a draft. I'm not talking beer, folks. I normally skip the politics in my LJ but I'd like to take a moment to review a piece of news that you may have missed this week.
There are only so many people that will volunteer, no matter the offer made. No matter what the salescritter -- err, recruiter -- tells you, the National Guard Reserves is an eight-year bid. Folks are figuring this out. This is a likely factor in recruiters missing targets.
America ended its draft in 1973, as we completed our pullout from the Vietnam War. One of the compromises made is that there would be no student deferment should a draft become necessary in the future, as that trick allowed a lot of men to avoid being drafted and merely wind up doctorates in debt. In 1980 they created Selective Service, which was the return of draft cards without a war. This means the infrastructure is ready should the demand kick in.
Summary: if you're young enough to be drafted, you will not be able to hide out at college. You will be tasty meat for a drill sergeant and you'll get a shiny gun to wave around Basra. Stop thinking this doesn't affect you.
I'm going to keep this as even-handed as possible. I know that not all of you oppose the war. My own stance on the war is too complex to summarize without ruining the groove of this post. Let me just put some pointers out there.
If you are in favor of the war and are of age to serve, now is the time for you to enlist. This is not someone else's war: this is yours. Go buy some stock in it. This will save others from being drafted.
If you are of draft age, it's time for you to do some research on the candidates in your upcoming elections. Which way has your congressperson voted on the war resolutions of the last few years? Better yet, who is your rep in the House? Who are your senators? Which committees are they on? Apathy will kill you.
-to the shores about 2000 miles east of Tripoli, Ps/d
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-27 11:15 pm (UTC)also, i'm illegally using the intarweb at work. oops.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-28 04:01 am (UTC)I've been more careful lately (in the past 3-4 years or so) about who I vote for than I used to be.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-28 02:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-28 05:48 pm (UTC)Wing nuts coming back from the Services are nothing new. That doesn't mean we won't send some of them involuntarily. I am assuming you've got something stronger than "it would breed dissenters with guns" because that's almost an assumption. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman) ()
no subject
Date: 2006-08-28 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-29 12:35 am (UTC)I don't know how to do research on candidates. I know nothing, and I mean nothing, about politics. If you want to lecture me, go ahead and e-mail me. I'd appreciate it, but I can't promise I'll understand a word of it.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-29 12:46 pm (UTC)