So .. a draft IS possible

Despite previous denials by the White House, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the hand-picked "war czar" of the Bush administration said in an interview with National Public Radio that it "makes sense" for the US to consider a military draft to deal with recruiting shortcomings of its current all voluntary forces because of the consternation created by the Iraq war.

In other words, no matter what's been said by Bush administration representatives and President Bush himself, the draft is being considered.

In these situations, individuals in appropriate positions of power are sent out by government administrations to release "trial message balloons." Which means that they'll see just how people respond to the test pronouncements. If they don't seem to respond loudly and quickly? They proceed with plans they have clearly told us they are considering.

The spokesperson, say, Lt. General Lute, indicates it would only be common sense to re-institute the military draft. This generally means that every able-bodied man is supposed to serve in the military at the age of 18 unless he has deferrals - such as college or other "legitimate" reasons to postpone their service.

In today's world, this may also mean every man and woman.

Although in the past draft, there has been an upper age limit for service, that age limit has been raised by the Bush administration to allow more people to volunteer these days.

When you sign up for the military, you become government property. They can send you where they wish and have you perform jobs for which they believe you are most suited. More, after your "active" service is supposed to end, the government can extend it.

I believe in national service, such as Peace Corps or Americorps, as well as a military enlistment. There are other ways to serve our citizens, too.

I believe two years is fair. It gives us an opportunity to serve our country in a way that makes us feel more a part of it, and that part is positive when it deals with peace keeping and positive support and constructive contribution.

I served in the US Air Force just shy of four years. I felt it was two years too long, but a USAF enlistment is for four years.

I am not anti-military. I am anti-government misusing our troops, putting them needlessly in harm's way and then not taking proper care of them when they come home wounded, maimed for life or psychologically impaired. Some 80% of our troops returning from Iraq have exhibited symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

That is an astonishingly high number, and my hunch is that it's because when they get there, no matter how supportive of the war they may have been when they went over, the duty turns out to be not at all what they expected - in terms of their mission and what they are expected to do and what they must put up with (not enough equipment, not enough protection, hideous living conditions).

So, now you know there is, in deed and in fact, a consideration to re-institute the military draft.

This should please you if you support President Bush and his plan to keep fighting in Iraq no matter how long he believes we "should" be there or how many American lives are claimed in his crusade. You and/or (probably) your children could be drafted into the military to fight shoulder to shoulder with the brave soldiers there now!

If there's any question that our less advantaged citizens are fighting that war now, the Army's giving enlistees a $20,000 award to sign up now! If you or your family desperately need money for essentials (health care, food, housing), you'll be more tempted to consider joining, no matter how risky.

With a draft - conservatives will be pleased that all these sign-up bonuses will be saved because everyone (if women are also part of the draft) who is able-bodied and under 40 or so will suddenly become part of the mandatory military picture.

Because of the many, many stories of privileged family members who dodged the draft when it existed before, you can be sure those loopholes will be closed so that everyone has an equal opportunity to put their lives on the line for their country.

I would think that the first person who would be in favor of the new draft would be super-Hawk Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. He's all about sending American soldiers to fight wars. He has 5 able-bodies sons who, I'm sure, he would love to see in those snappy uniforms. Especially since he did not join the military when he had the chance.

Come to think of it, there are an awfully lot of conservatives supporting this (IMO) needless, endless war who have never served in the military and, further, who don't want their kids to go over there to fight, either.

The draft would give these folks the opportunity to step up and walk their talk, wouldn't it?

Tick tick tick tick. Only a matter of time as long as the Iraq war continues. Meanwhile the majority of insurgents we're fighting in Iraq as well those responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers September 11 are Saudi Arabians.

How are all those insurgents getting weapons and ammunition? Well, some 19-20 BILLION dollars/US of artillery and ammo have been lost by the US in the past two years in Iraq. I wonder how many bullets taken out of the bodies of our wounded, maimed and killed soldiers are being tracked back to our own weapons. They're also being paid for with Saudi Arabia money.

All fighting for "democracy," which is a vague, impossible to-implement-philosophy to warring Middle Eastern peoples fighting US forces and one another.

Especially with the Iraqi congress taking off on vacation for a month or two, basking outside their nation's danger zone.

I wish our soldiers could get those kinds of breaks and vacations.

Iraqi congress members fly in for confabs, don't you know, to avoid the noise, *heat* (as Presidential Press Secretary Tony Snow answered when asked how could the Iraqi congress go on vacation when their country is in the middle of a war... "It's hot over there.")

And fighting. Of course they want to get away from all the fighting surrounding them.

Yes, I'm talking about the Iraqi congress that is supposed to find ways to unite the nation - another task considered impossible because of the generations-long warring between the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds - or at least figure out ways to reduce the bloodshed among innocent Iraqis.

So while all those Saudis are fighting us in Iraq and the small numbers of al qaeda terrorists use the Iraq war as a temporary training ground, then move out of Iraq as soon as they're trained, our borders continue to remain vulnerable to all those terrorists.

Terrorists President Bush insists we're fighting "over there" to prevent them from coming "over here."

We're so busy investing our military resources in Iraq, they are not here prepared to defend us.

And of course there are the hundreds of billions of dollars we're paying Haliburton to rebuild the warring region that only sucks taxpayer dollars without an ounce of return because anything they build is again destroyed by insurgents, and Haliburton moved its primary headquarters to Dubai in order to avoid paying taxes here in the US.

Yep, a draft would definitely be the solution to have enough military power not just to wage war in Iraq, but Iran and other nations in which Bush wants to install "democracy," (without including Saudi Arabia) as well as have *some* people here to take care of us, natural and other disasters, forget the possibility of another massive terrorist attack.

If this sounds like a "leftist" analysis? It's not.

It's just someone trying to inform herself and understand how our nation allowed anyone to put us in the horrific situation we are in - whether in New Orleans or Iraq.

And we'll have no one to blame but ourselves because most have only stood by and let it happen - Democrats and Republicans.