Free Republic

On January 18 Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, told a placard-waving anti-war crowd: "The greatest patriots of this country are here today...The president said it'd be a cold day in Washington before this country turns against this war, but it is a cold day in Washington and here we are." Apart from Conyers nasty insinuation people who disagree with his leftwing views about war against the genocidal Saddam are not patriotic, what can we deduce from his presence? Well, for one, Rep. does not like America and prefers the company of totalitarians to that of genuine democrats. And how...

Remember back during the election campaign when the DUmmiecrats were screaming that the Bush administration was secretly planning on bringing back the draft after the election was over? The administration resolutely denied it but that didn’t stop the DUmmiecrats and their MTV allies, plus Dan Rather, from making that assertion. Actually the only folks supporting the draft (for strictly political reasons) back then were congressman Charley Rangel and a few fellow Democrats. When Rangel’s draft bill came to a vote he then proceeded to vote AGAINST his own bill. Okay, so the election came and went and the Bush...

America can remain the world's superpower. Or it can maintain its current all-volunteer military. It can't do both. The United States has occupied many foreign lands over the last half century—Germany and Japan in World War II, and, on a much smaller scale, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo in the 1990s. In all these cases, we sponsored elections and handed-off to democratic governments control of countries that were relatively stable, secure, and reasonably peaceful. In Iraq, we failed to do this, despite heroic efforts by U.S. and coalition troops. The newly-elected Iraqi government inherits a country in which assassinations, kidnappings, suicide...

It is hard to pick up a newspaper these days without reading about Army and Marine Corps recruiting and retention woes. Nonstop deployments and the danger faced by troops in Iraq are making it hard for both services to fill their ranks. The same goes for the National Guard and Reserves. Just to stay at their current sizes, the Army and Marines are shoveling money into more advertising, extra recruiters and bigger enlistment bonuses. And yet it's clear to everyone (except President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld) that the U.S. military is far too small to handle all...

ATTENTION ALL AMERICAN MEN & WOMEN AGED 16-45: Pursuant to Sub-Section 8, Paragraph C of Executive Branch Classified Directive #13334-P, dated 1 May 2004, the Armed Forces of the United States stand directed by President George W. Bush to accelerate preparations for compulsory induction of the adult non-homosexual population into active combat duty in the War Against Terror. Henceforth, and in accordance with established Federal conscriptional provisions, all male and female citizens aged 16-45 must register for the impending draft. Each registrant's personal information will undergo rigorous computer analysis to compile a profile of overall physical, mental, and moral fitness...

By Kalani Leifer Opinions Columnist Friday, February 25, 2005 “Dear Mr. Leifer: Too good to fight for your country, huh? Never mind. If need be, I suspect we can make do without you.” “Dear Mr. Smith: . . . So if you ask if I’m too good to fight for my country, I’d say no. I am, however, too good to blindly follow and not question, the very principle that makes this nation great. I’m extremely sorry you have forgotten this.” “Sir: You are a silly young man, full of your own self-importance, blinded by your own intellect. Perhaps we...

This is not name calling, it's making a comparison. Maybe you're not familiar with the history of Adolf Hitler and the HJ. There are a lot of parallels between Hitler and Bush, you can't just look at them and say that's ridiculous because Hitler killed Jews and Bush didn't. There's a whole lot more to in, the mechanics of his political machine, the popularity and sway he had over people that didn't even agree with him but gave him the power and authority he needed to do what he did. Instead of taking this comment as a personal attack, you...

Selective Service By Kalani Leifer Opinions Columnist Friday, February 18, 2005 Six months, 17 days. That’s how long I’ve been 18 years old. $250,000 and five years in prison. As of now, that’s what I owe the federal government for evading the draft. I am a hardnosed liberal, aren’t I? OK, OK, so maybe I’m not actually a draft-dodger. After all, last time I checked, President Bush isn’t looking to commit political suicide, and a quarter of a million dollars makes me weak in the knees. To be quite honest, my apparent refusal to register for Selective Service is grounded...

Two years ago, I wrote an article for Front Page detailing the distortions by New York Congressman Charles Rangel about those who serve in the military. Rangel wanted to implement a military draft because he said that those in the military, who would be called to die in an invasion of Iraq, would be disproportionately minority. This was not true. On February 13, 2005, while appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rangel, a decorated Korean War veteran, made this specious statement to host Tim Russert, "We're fighting this war with other people's kids." Implying that rich kids are not serving...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A military draft would not improve the quality of soldier over the current all-volunteer force, the head of Army recruiting said Thursday. Maj. Gen. Michael D. Rochelle, commanding general of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, said volunteer soldiers want to be a part of the military, making them "as wonderful a soldier as one can imagine." "I think what we have today far surpasses a draft," he told a Rotary Club audience. Rochelle, 54, oversees 7,000 Army recruiters worldwide and has a $250 million advertising budget with a goal of bringing in 80,000...

Uncle Sam wants you. He needs you. He'll bribe you to sign up. He'll strong-arm you to re-enlist. And if that's not enough, he's got a plan to draft you. In the three decades since the Vietnam War, the "all-volunteer Army" has become a bedrock principle of the American military. "It's a magnificent force," Vice President Dick Cheney declared during the election campaign last fall, "because those serving are ones who signed up to serve." But with the Army and Marines perilously overextended by the war in Iraq, that volunteer foundation is starting to crack. The "weekend warriors" of the...

By Paul GreenbergLittle by little the look of the country changes because of the men we admire. Funny how lines from an old movie occur to you at a time like this, when you learn of the death of an old soldier who never sought the limelight yet earned a footnote in a presidential campaign. The look of the country does change because of the men we admire. For good or ill.

The Washington Times www.washingtontimes.com Ground forces too smallBy Robert H. ScalesPublished January 25, 2005 A close look at photos of American service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan reinforces the painful truism that soldiers and Marines are doing virtually all of the fighting and dying. This isn't a new phenomenon. From Korea to Iraq, four out of five of those who died at the hands of the enemy were infantrymen. Not just soldiers and Marines, but infantrymen, a force that today comprises less than 6 percent of those in uniform.     With the exception of Kosovo, the success of American...

I am going to see some liberal family members during a visit in a couple of weeks. Gently...not harshly, I am going to nudge them a bit. Asking my young cousin, who is liberal because of his parents, if he has received his draft notice yet.And my sainted great-grandmother, who was scared needlessly by the Democrat Big Lie Machine, may be reminded that her Social Security checks have not been decreased. I encourage other FREEPers to invite those not in the conservative fold to persuade, with love, those who truly panicked and believed the lies of John Kerry, John Conyers,...

Retired colonel who supplied Clinton's Vietnam deferment dies FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War II who later accused Bill Clinton of deceiving him to dodge the Vietnam War draft has died. Retired Army Col. Eugene J. Holmes died of natural causes at his Fayetteville home Saturday, according to Moore's Chapel funeral home. He was 88. Holmes was director of the University of Arkansas ROTC program in 1969 when Clinton — then a Rhodes Scholar attending Oxford University in England — applied to the officer training program to satisfy draft deferments, but never...

Bradley Graham reports in the Washington Post that Army leaders are pushing to make last year's increase of 30,000 troops in the active-duty force permanent and to change the law to allow longer and more frequent call-ups of some reservists in order to meet the obligations of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. If these changes are enacted, half of the forces deployed to these war zones would be reservists. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum and Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt dub this a "backdoor draft." Says Drum, "If this happens, it's for all intents and purposes a draft." Merritt adds,...

The respected columnist Andres Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald has gotten hold of a pretty seamy secret document showing an emerging alliance between South America and the Arab League. The 28-page draft document for a May 10-11 summit in Brazil will endorse Arab terrorism and condemn Israel. It would also 'study' the 'root causes' of terrorism, and 'distinguish' the kinds of terrorism they justify and the kinds they can condemn without consequence. We all well know what that means. Oppenheimer writes: My conclusion: South American countries are playing with fire by extending the focus of the summit to Middle Eastern...

Brethren Agree to Revive 'Alternative Service' Draft Programs By Kevin Eckstrom Religion News Service Leaders of the Church of the Brethren say they will follow through on a request from the Selective Service to have "alternative service" programs in place for conscientious objectors if a draft is reinstated. As one of the historic "peace churches" that shun military service, Brethren officials were "cautious" after an unannounced visit by a draft official to a church center in Maryland last October. Officials were worried that the visit signaled that a draft may be at hand. In follow-up meetings, draft officials urged the...

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, announced on Sunday that he's introducing legislation to impeach Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. "I put in a bill for his resignation. It's shameful," Rangel told NBC's "News Forum" in New York. "Not only for his resignation, for his impeachment as well, because he would allow us to believe that he was shocked and he did not know exactly what we would be faced with [in Iraq]." Rangel blamed Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz for "advising the president to get rid of Saddam Hussein." "It's embarrassing," he complained. "Here we are, the greatest nation...