Re-instating the draft?

[JackiesMom]

Did you know that bills have been introduced to re-instate the draft for both men and women between the ages of 18 and 26?

"On the first day of the 108th session of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-15th-NY) introduced the Universal National Service Act of 2003; H.R. 163, in the House. Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) introduced the same bill, numbered S. 89 in the Senate.

The bill would have the president provide for the common defense by requiring men and women, between the ages of 18 and 26 in the United States, to perform at least two years of military or civilian service for the furtherance of the national defense and homeland security and other purposes. It requires non-combatant training by the military for conscientious objectors." www.thirdway.com/wv/article.asp?A_ID=146

These kids would be allowed to finish high school, but college would not be an exemption.

[snugglebug]

If Clinton hadn't spent so much time downsizing our military and closing bases, this probably wouldn't need to be done.

Thanks to recent pay raises, I know of several people who planned to get out, that are now staying in.

I think an exemption for military spouses should be included. Dual-military should be by choice, not by draft.

[peachfront]

It won't happen. The bill was introduced as a protest measure.
Minority, poor, and middle class kids (especially lower middle class kids) were drafted to serve in Vietnam, and if you know many of these veterans, you know that most suffer from lifelong psychological illnesses and many suffer from physical problems.

Many of these Vietnam era veterans, including some politicians who served in Vietnam, are now fighting to prevent the war in Iraq.

If there is to be a war, a rich young man (or woman) should be put at the risk as a poor young man. But it ain't gonna happen. Rumsfeld already said that draftees don't add value in a modern military situation where a lot of training is required before you can put the men (and maybe women) on the battlefield.

The truth is, and I honestly believe this statement to be the truth, we wouldn't NEED a draft if young people could see that we were going to go after Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, who planned and funded the attack on this nation. Heck, if I wasn't too old, I'd sign up for such a fight myself, any way I could. But it's hard to get volunteers to fight and die to keep oil prices lower so we can keep our oil and gas workers in Louisiana and Texas out of work!