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Appeal for draft board volunteers revives memories of Vietnam era
Guardian ^ | November 5, 2003 | Suzanne Goldenberg

Posted on 11/05/2003 1:32:14 PM PST by Korth

The Pentagon has begun recruiting for local draft boards, dredging up painful memories of Vietnam era conscription at a time of deepening misgiving about America's occupation of Iraq.

In a notice posted on the defence department's Defend America website, Americans over the age of 18 and with no criminal record are invited to "serve your community and the nation" by volunteering for the boards, which decide which recruits should be sent to war.

Thirty years have passed since the draft boards last exerted their hold on America, deciding which soldiers would be sent to Vietnam. After Congress ended the draft in 1973, they have become largely dormant.

However, recruitment for the boards suggests that in some parts of the Pentagon all options are being explored in response to concerns that the US military has been stretched too thin in its occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although Pentagon officials denied any move to reinstitute the draft, the defence department website does not shirk at outlining the potential duties for a new crop of volunteers to the draft boards.

"If a military draft becomes necessary, approximately 2,000 local and appeal boards throughout America would decide which young men who submit a claim receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service, based on federal guidelines," it said.

Pentagon officials were adamant that there were no plans to bring back the draft.

"That would require action from Congress and the president and they are not likely to do that unless there was something of the magnitude of the second world war that required it," said Dan Amon, a spokesman for the selective service department.

Bringing back conscription would be catastrophic for George Bush in an election year, and at a time when parallels are increasingly being drawn between Iraq and Vietnam.

However, officials were not immediately able to explain how the advertisement appeared on the site. Mr Amon said the notices were a response to the natural attrition in the ranks of the draft board, where some 80% of 11,000 places are now vacant. "It is the routine cycle of things," he said.

But it was unclear why the Pentagon decided at this time it was necessary to fill staff bodies which had played no function since the early 1980s.

The idea of a draft has never entirely disappeared, and is contemplated by Democrats and some military experts.

In the run-up to the war, the New York congressman Charles Rangel argued for a draft on the grounds that the US military was disproportionately made up of poor and black soldiers, and that it was unfair for America's underclass to go off and die in wars.

In recent weeks, there has been growing concern within the defence department about relying too heavily on members of the National Guard and army reservists.

Some 60,000 of the 130,000 US soldiers in Iraq are members of the National Guard or the reserves. An opinion poll last month in the Pentagon-funded Stars and Stripes newspaper, showed 49% threatening not to re-enlist.

The families of reservists have become increasingly vocal in their complaints after the Pentagon's decision to extend duty tours to up to 15 months.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: army; conscription; constitution; draft; draftboard; freedom; liberty; military; terrorism; war

1 posted on 11/05/2003 1:32:14 PM PST by Korth
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To: Korth
Trust me this didn't revive memories of Vietnam. They were revived the moment Bush said "Iraq" and I dare say you could read about Vietnam in at least one major newspaper every single day for the last year.
2 posted on 11/05/2003 1:37:50 PM PST by Naspino (I am in no way associated with the views expressed in your posts.)
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To: Korth
We have heard the word Vietnam repeated daily in the media for 30 years.

Think about it. If you follow the media, you hear it every day, in some form.
3 posted on 11/05/2003 1:37:58 PM PST by At _War_With_Liberals (It took Zell Miller 1 minute to say what Republicans have been afraid to say for years...)
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To: Korth
Is Rangles still pushing for this? This will help the dems. how?
4 posted on 11/05/2003 1:40:25 PM PST by monkeywrench
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To: monkeywrench
Pushing for the draft helps the Democrats only indirectly, in that the existence of the authority to draft young men gives them a reason to protest in a politically acceptable manner. The statutory basis for instituting a draft already exists, only an enabling resolution is necessary for the President to activate the draft.

And if this President could be pushed into activating the draft, what a club the Democrats could use on him. The Republicans are adamantly opposed to falling into that trap.

Sorry, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, the Navy and even the Army have more applicants than the services can process and place in positions of responsibility. There is a back door in, through the National Guard/Reserves, where the trained cadre of available personnel may stand at ready reserve, living their civilian lives but prepared to jump to national defense when called. The National Guard/Reserves are woefully undermanned at the moment, but I just don't see the draft as being used to fill their ranks.
5 posted on 11/05/2003 1:54:13 PM PST by alloysteel
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To: Korth
We're beating this story to death.
6 posted on 11/05/2003 1:55:21 PM PST by Consort
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To: Korth
They'd better draft women too.
7 posted on 11/05/2003 3:12:40 PM PST by Age of Reason
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To: Age of Reason
They'd better draft women too.

Forget the college deferments this time around as well. I'd favor the kids of any state or federal employee, or employee of any company that does more than 20% of it's gross from government being first in line. If we gonna play let them all play this time.

8 posted on 11/05/2003 3:51:52 PM PST by steve50
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To: Korth
This is just stupid propaganda. I saw a aricle in my small town paper about 3 years ago. These are governmental boards that when someone dies or resigns there is an article asking for others to volentear to serve on the boards. This is NOTHING new. They have been around forever. I even though about volunterring to serve on such board.
9 posted on 11/05/2003 4:38:35 PM PST by therut
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To: steve50; A. Pole
Forget the college deferments this time around as well. I'd favor the kids of any state or federal employee, or employee of any company that does more than 20% of it's gross from government being first in line. If we gonna play let them all play this time.

And let's remember to draft CEO's of companies that outsource American jobs to India and China.

At least they'll have a job to come back to.

10 posted on 11/05/2003 6:53:38 PM PST by Age of Reason
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To: Korth
When the Left wants to "spin" and stretch the truth, they go to the New York Times. When they just want outright lies and fantasies, they go to the Guardian.
11 posted on 11/05/2003 7:00:44 PM PST by pawdoggie
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To: All
Um...hello media idiots.

"The Draft" never went away so it can't 'come back.'

I had to register for the draft, although maybe the media thought Clintoon got rid of the draft so I didn't really go to the post office and register for anything. You still have to be registered for Federal scholarship funds. You still have to be registered for civil service jobs last I checked.

The Draft never left so Bush and Rummy can't bring it back!!!! Tell all your Leftie friends. Repeatedly. Pester them. Make them admit the cerebral infarction that made them go Left.

12 posted on 02/23/2004 12:57:19 PM PST by Ophiucus
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