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WASHINGTON -- The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is adamant that he will not ask Congress to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription, stress that the possibility of a so-called "special skills draft" is remote. Nonetheless, the agency has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree...

<p>Washington -- The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages.</p> <p>The Selective Service System has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.</p>

<p>March 1 issue - My son sits tensely on the couch watching the nightly television news while words are spoken that no 17-year-old child should hear: "Because of heightened security concerns, the terrorism alert has been raised to Orange level ... Another suicide bombing has been reported in Iraq. There are an unknown number of civilian casualties ... Next up, a special report on whether hazmat suits really protect against anthrax ..." All the while scrolled messages roll out beneath the news anchor—predictions of a recession, a canceled flight from London, street violence in Haiti.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON -- Stephen Eckhardt was in the National Guard in 1968 when he was sent to Vietnam to run supplies into sniper-filled combat zones. Now he believes that service is being unfairly maligned.</p> <p>Attacks by Democratic Party leaders on President Bush for his Vietnam-era service in the Air National Guard and questions of whether he fulfilled his requirements have angered former Guard members, like Eckhardt, who say some of the political jabs imply that anyone who served in the Guard was trying to avoid combat.</p>

Sen. John Kerry and his media boosters are hoping bogus allegations that President Bush went AWOL from the National Guard will catapult him into the White House - but during the 1992 presidential campaign, Kerry angrily denounced Bush's father for raising Bill Clinton's Vietnam draft record. In fact, back then, Kerry called those who wanted to make Vietnam service an issue "cowardly." "I'm here personally to express my anger, as a veteran," Kerry told National Public Radio two months before the 1992 election, "that a president who would stand before this nation in his inaugural address and promise to put...

It has been 30 years since the last time an American entered the armed forces through the not-so-tender mercies of the draft, on June 30, 1973. The next time could be just around the corner, if President George W. Bush is re-elected. No, no, no, a thousand times no, say the White House, the Pentagon and Congress. They insist they have no plans for a draft. In any case, take this to the bank: It will not happen before Nov. 2, 2004. Still, the rumors refuse to die, and it was the Pentagon itself that started the buzz.

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS BEFORE THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 21, 2003 Conscription- The Terrible Price of War The ultimate cost of war is almost always the loss of liberty.  True defensive wars and revolutionary wars against tyrants may preserve or establish a free society, as did our war against the British.  But these wars are rare.  Most wars are unnecessary, dangerous, and cause senseless suffering with little being gained.  The result of most conflicts throughout the ages has been loss of liberty and life on both sides.  The current war in which we find ourselves clearly qualifies...

(excerpt) 3. This reaction to Dean’s deferment from Kerry supporter, Vietnam vet and former Sen. Max Cleland: “Now, at a time when young Americans are being killed and wounded by President Bush’s failed policy in Iraq... Our country can not afford to have another leader who took the easy way out like George W. Bush who hid out in the Houston National Guard. We can not afford to have a leader who weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski slopes of Aspen like Howard Dean.”

In response to a rising death toll and increased attacks on American troops in Iraq, the U.S. military went back on the offensive last week. The goal is to curtail Iraqi insurgence as the country undergoes transition to a new government. To date, more than 420 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq -- 281 since President Bush declared an end to major combat in May. The possibility of a prolonged, guerrilla-style military conflict in Iraq, combined with the continued U.S. military efforts in the war on terrorism, are straining American military reserves -- and raising some speculation about the...

33 Years Later, Draft Becomes Topic for DeanBy RICK LYMAN and CHRISTOPHER DREW Published: November 22, 2003 In the winter of 1970, a 21-year-old student from Yale walked into his armed services physical in New York carrying X-rays and a letter from his orthopedist, eager to know whether a back condition might keep him out of the military draft. This was not an uncommon scene in 1970, when medical deferments were a frequently used avenue for those reluctant to take part in the unpopular war in Vietnam. And this story would have little interest save that Howard Dean was the...

In the winter of 1970, a 21-year-old student from Yale walked into his armed services physical in New York carrying X-rays and a letter from his orthopedist, eager to know whether a back condition might keep him out of the military draft. This was not an uncommon scene in 1970, when medical deferments were a frequently used avenue for those reluctant to take part in the unpopular war in Vietnam. And this story would have little interest save that Howard Dean was the name of the young man. Now, 33 years later, he finds himself a leading Democrat in the...

Anyone hear about this?"The Universal National Service Act of 2003 "amends the Military Selective Service Act to authorize the military registration of females" and declares "that it is the obligation of every U.S. citizen, and every other person residing in the United States, between the ages of 18 and 26 to perform a two-year period of national service"

Uncle Sam Wants You... Your Sister, Girl Friend, Or Wife! Ginny Baker, Charlotte Iserbyt, Berit Kjos and Mary Thompson November 11, 2003 The Universal National Service Act of 2003 Background -1- "Freedom from War: The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World," State Department Publication 7277, explains Public Law 87-297 and H.R. 9118 passed by the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Congress on September 26, 1961. This sovereignty-destroying legislation calls for "the disbanding of all national armed forces and the prohibition of their establishment in any form whatsoever, other than those required to preserve...

<p>A routine notice advertising the need for people to serve on the nation's draft boards has prompted a flurry of press reports suggesting the Pentagon may restart the military draft.</p> <p>Officials denied any such thing is afoot.</p> <p>"There are no secret discussions," said Pat Schuback, a spokesman for the Selective Service System, the government agency that would be in charge of conscription if the United States had it. "We aren't doing any planning that we don't do on a routine basis."</p>

WASHINGTON -- The United States' uneven record in Iraq has kindled a small but persistent push to reinstitute the military draft, a politically charged idea that hasn't been seriously considered since the end of the Vietnam War. Yet despite denials from the White House that a draft is under consideration, and despite the obvious political fallout of such a move during an election campaign, talk of a draft has heated up in recent days. Asked this week if the president is considering reinstituting the draft, press secretary Scott McClellan gave a quick and emphatic answer. "No," he said, moving to...

Six Democratic presidential hopefuls who gathered in Manchester at a forum on women's issues Wednesday disagreed on whether 18-year-old women should be required to register for the military draft. Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Carol Moseley Braun said women should not be forced to register. John Kerry, Howard Dean and Wesley Clark said they should. Kucinich said instead of having to register, women and men should be encouraged to volunteer for national service. Braun said women shouldn't be forced to register until the military treats women better. She said there are far too many cases of rape and abuse. Clark,...

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...

The Pentagon is quietly moving to fill draft board vacancies nationwide. While officials say there’s no cause to worry, some experts aren’t so sure. Nov. 3, 2003 | The community draft boards that became notorious for sending reluctant young men off to Vietnam have languished since the early 1970s, their membership ebbing and their purpose all but lost when the draft was ended. But a few weeks ago, on an obscure federal Web site devoted to the war on terrorism, the Bush administration quietly began a public campaign to bring the draft boards back to life. “Serve Your Community and...

The Selective Service System wants to hear from men and women in the community who might be willing to serve as members of a local draft board. Prospective Board Members must be citizens of the United States , at least 18 years old, and registered with the Selective Service (if male). Prospective Board Members may not be an employee of any law enforcement occupation, not be an active or retired member of the Armed Forces, and not have been convicted of any criminal offense. Once identified as qualified candidates for appointment, prospective Board Members are recommended by the Governor and...

The U.S. may need to reinstate a military draft in order to win the war on terrorism, retiring Sen. Zell Miller said on Monday. "While I don't think we're close to that yet, that may be on down the line," the Georgia Democrat told nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity. "We must stay the course," explained Miller. "We cannot cut and run because if we do not fight this war in Iraq we're going to have to fight in on the streets of America. And we cannot allow that to happen." "Perhaps [a draft] may be something we have to...