Paul Krugman writes: "Those who are worrying about a revived draft are in the same position as those who worried about a return to budget deficits four years ago, when President Bush began pushing through his program of tax cuts. Back then he insisted that he wouldn't drive the budget into deficit - but those who looked at the facts strongly suspected otherwise. Now he insists that he won't revive the draft. But the facts suggest that he will. There were two reasons some of us never believed Mr. Bush's budget promises... It's exactly the same when it comes to the draft. Mr. Bush's claim that we don't need any expansion in our military is patently unrealistic; it ignores the severe stress our Army is already under. And the... 'Bush doctrine' of pre-emptive war - would require much larger military forces than we now have. This leads to the justified suspicion that after the election, Mr. Bush will seek a large expansion in our military, quite possibly through a return of the draft."

"True to their family tradition of personal sacrifice, Jenna and Barbara Bush are the first to sign up for Spring Break Fallujah 2005. 'Isn't that an MTV thing?' asked party girl Jenna, 'because I'm totally there.' How cute! It's armed conflict in the Middle East, spring break style. And the twins will have plenty of company - all guys and girls from the age of 18-34, and medical personnel up to the age of 44! Awesome! Don't forget, when packing your bags for this very special junior year abroad, it's all about shock and awe, baby. Just ask any of our currently overextended troops - it's a trip to die for."

"Bush turned the tables Saturday on Sen. John Kerry , declaring 'the best way to avoid the draft is to vote for me,' and pledged to oppose mandatory military service. The Democrat stuck to domestic issues, blaming Bush for a shortage of flu vaccines. Kerry also opposes a draft and has suggested that re-electing Bush would greatly increase the prospects for one. The president, fearing that young voters will be swayed by the charge, fired back, 'The person talking about a draft is my opponent.' Campaigning in an area heavily dependent on the military, Bush said, 'WE WILL NOT HAVE AN ALL-VOLUNTEER ARMY' before correcting himself. 'Let me restate that,' he continued. 'We will not have a draft ... . The best way to avoid a draft is to vote for me.' Polls show that a majority of young voters believe Bush would reinstitute the draft, despite the resident's denials."

Maybe clueless parents will buy the Bush line that we can support multiple war zones around the world by simply extending current solders tours forever and ever, but their kids - who happen to be the very folks whose butts are on the line - don't buy it. AP reports that "Despite denials by the Bush administration, half of young Americans believe Bush wants to reinstate the military draft, a national poll suggests. The National Annenberg Election Survey found that 51 percent of adults age 18 to 29 believe Bush wants to reinstate the draft."

"No matter how unpopular, tell the American people who is really going to fight the war. Young people will not let the issue of the draft or the facts that young people are dying everyday be forgotten. We call on Punk Voters everywhere to take action and call Congress today. Congress brought up the draft yesterday to play politics and tried to silence our voice about the simple question of who is going to continue to fight their war. This issue was brought up only a month before the election for pure political reasons instead of a serious discussion on the issue. It was obvious why the right-wing leadership is trying to kill rumors of the draft. But we know the reality, there already is a draft going on in the US and members of Congress's kids are not fighting this war. Poor, minorities and our nation's reserve officers our fighting this war.Punkvoter will not let this issue go away because a few members in Congress are trying to ignore the facts. "

David Hackworth writes, "Although Pentagon puff artists insist they're making quota, recruiters are already saying it would be easier to find $100 bills on the sidewalk outside a homeless shelter than fill their enlistment quotas, even with the huge bonuses now being paid. So the draft -- which will include both boys and girls this time around -- is a no-brainer in '05 and '06. Oh sure, the Pentagon suits will fight it. Volunteers tend to go with the flow and seldom blow the whistle on military stupidity, flawed tactics and self-serving leadership. And draftees don't hesitate to make waves and tell the truth. Not to mention influential citizens with draft-age kids who'll soon be demanding an answer to the same type of hard question their moms and dads shouted during the Vietnam War: 'Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?'"

Alliance for Security: "Could there be a military draft in your future? The manpower needs of the ongoing U.S. engagement in Iraq and our other obligations around the world are already stretching our military to the limit. What if Pakistan, North Korea or other nations pose new threats? Then what? As it is, the military is stretched almost to the breaking point trying to maintain troop levels in Iraq and around the world. Our government has instituted a 'backdoor draft' by extending the tour of duty of those who are already courageously serving our country. Now they are sending increasing numbers of National Guardsmen overseas, leaving us defenseless in the face of a domestic emergency. And we are seeing signs that the military is having trouble retaining soldiers and recruiting new ones. If you connect the dots, you'll see that the road we're on leads straight towards the draft."

NY Times: "Senator John Kerry on Friday accused the Bush administration of secretly planning a mobilization of Army Reserve and National Guard units immediately after the election... Officials of the Kerry campaign cited Representative John P. Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, as their source for information on the call-up plan. 'Hide it from the people, then make the move,' Mr. Kerry told a town hall forum here. In a statement and a telephone interview, Mr. Murtha, the top Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, said that he had learned of the plan through conversations with Pentagon officials and that there was a 'handshake deal' between officials at the Pentagon and elsewhere in the administration to delay the call-ups until after Nov. 2."

"A key issue for young Americans and their families to consider as they prepare to cast their votes in the upcoming presidential election is the real likelihood of a military draft being reinstated if President Bush is re-elected. President Bush should tell us now whether he supports a military draft. Here is the evidence that makes a draft likely: The U.S. Army has acknowledged that they are stretched thin and that finding new recruits is challenging. They recently placed 300 new recruiters in the field. Bonuses for new recruits to the Army have risen by 67 percent to a maximum of $10,000 and $15,000 for hard-to-fill specialties. The extended tours of duty have made service less attractive for both the regular armed forces, and particularly for the National Guard and Reserves. To meet this year's quota for enlistees, the Army has sped up the induction of 'delayed entry' recruits, meaning they are already borrowing from next year's quotas in order to meet this year's numbers..."

AP: "Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived. During a question-and-answer session, the mother of a 23-year-old who recently graduated from West Virginia University asked Edwards whether the draft would be reinstated. 'There will be no draft when John Kerry is president,' Edwards said, a statement that drew a standing ovation. The current force is all-volunteer, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said he opposes reinstating the draft. But the Pentagon has taken several steps that have drawn criticism. In June, the Pentagon recalled to active duty 5,674 members of the Individual Ready Reserve, soldiers who have served specified tours of duty but have years remaining in their enlistment contracts."

This reprehensible MSNBC article (complete with Freeped poll on the same page) tries to make the very real possibility of a military draft just another political fearmongering tactic. It's as if risking the lives of America's young people is no big deal - even as scores are injured weekly in Iraq and the death count climbs above 1,000. (MSNBC conveniently also underreports soldier casualties in Iraq too). But Max Cleland, a Vietnam veteran who KNOWS, says there is a very real chance America will reinstate the military if Bush is re-elected and continues the Iraq War. "Pay attention ... to what you've got going on in Iraq. That, ladies and gentlemen, is Vietnam. I've seen this movie before. I know how it ends. It does not end pleasantly," he added.

New Zealand News: "With the war locked into a bloody stalemate, the veterans are wondering how the military might find replacements to fill the gaps... For despite the Pentagon's boast that it can fight and win two conventional wars, US forces are seriously overstretched. 'We don't have the manpower to sustain the war in Iraq,' says Eric Ellis, a Vietnam veteran. 'In Vietnam we had 550,000 troops. We rotated them every year. We had to do one combat tour. Now we have 130,000-odd troops in Iraq. They do a tour, come home, then go back.' Where to find the extra troops to fight a seemingly intractable insurgency that echoes Vietnam has become a pressing question. And although you wouldn't hear it from the Bush Administration, the prospect of deploying a draft for the first time in a generation may be edging towards reality."

Denver Post: "Official orders have been sent calling for some 7,000 soldiers to return to Iraq and Kuwait over the next few months, officials at the Army post said Wednesday. Also not included is the 10th Special Forces Group, which has been moving in and out of the Persian Gulf under the shroud of darkness since Sept. 11, 2001."It is most of Fort Carson," Goemaere said. "... The individual may not have the order, but their unit does."The Army post sent more than 12,000 soldiers to war last year; 46 soldiers died. A few hundred members of a military police unit are still in Iraq. One soldier with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment said many in his unit are very stressed out about having to go back. He said soldiers in the cavalry think they will be gone before Christmas and that "stop- loss" orders that bar members of deploying units from getting out of the service will come down in September."

The Pentagon is taxing its reserve soldiers "nearly to the breaking point" with repeated and extended deployments in its two ongoing wars, a senior lawmaker told defense officials Wednesday. "I'm worried ... worried for them, for asking very few to exert an enormous sustained effort for the good of all of us," said Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.The Army is so stretched for manpower that in April it broke a promise to some active-duty units, including the 1st Armored Division, that they would not have to serve more than 12 months in Iraq. It also has extended the tours of other units, including some in Afghanistan. "We're taxing our part-time soldiers, our Guard and Reserves nearly to the breaking point," said Skelton. "We have to be aware that the families back home are paying a significant price. We don't want to break the force."

"The U.S. Army began on Tuesday to notify hundreds of former soldiers in New York that they will be recalled to active duty to fill gaps in combat-support units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The soldiers, who will be mobilized over the next six months, are part of the Army's Individual Ready Reserve, a designation given to personnel who served in the Army on active duty but did not fulfill their full eight-year commitment to the military. The Army sent its first recall letters Tuesday." Army spokespeople say that ALL the reservists will serve more than 18 months. In Vietnam, even the MARINES only served 13 months in the war zone!

US Newswire: "Recently the Pentagon has announced plans to utilize troops from the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) a collection of hundreds of thousands of men and women who do not drill with a unit, and have no responsibilities other than to report their current address and contact information to the military, while they serve out the remainder of their term in the military." Just days after Rumsfeld claimed no new troops would be needed in Iraq, it was revealed that the Pentagon plans to involuntarily re-enlist 6,500 IRR's for the upcoming troop rotation in Iraq." Not only that, but they have announced plans to utilize the Internal Revenue Service to help track down thousands of soldiers in the IRR with bad contact info. Finally, and most importantly, many in the IRR have reported that through an Army memo and phone calls, they felt pressured to re-enlist in the reserves, or risk being involuntarily mobilized into a unit to be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan."

"John Kerry said Thursday that the Bush administration has instituted a 'backdoor draft' by requiring thousands of soldiers to stay in the military if their units are ordered to Iraq or Afghanistan . Kerry said the Pentagon 's announcement of the'stop-loss' program may have increased the forces by 30,000 troops. 'But this has happened on the backs of the men and women who've already fulfilled their obligation to the armed forces and to our country - and it runs counter to the traditions of an all-volunteer Army. They have effectively used a stop-loss policy as a backdoor draft,' he said... He warned that the country is in danger of returning to the low point of the late 1970s after the Vietnam War and 'another hollow Army,' with too few ready to fight. 'From day one, this administration has been obsessed with threats from other states instead of opening their eyes to the perils of the new century - terrorist organizations with or without ties to rogue nations and failed states.' "

"The Defense Department, strapped for troops for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, has proposed to Congress that it tap the Internal Revenue Service to locate out-of-touch reservists. The unusual measure, which the Pentagon said has been examined by lawyers, would allow the IRS to pass on addresses for tens of thousands of former military members who still face recall into the active duty... For it to become practice, Congress and President Bush would have to approve the proposal, which would involve amending the tax code."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "The chief of the Selective Service System has proposed registering women for the military draft and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the government about whether they have training in niche specialties needed in the armed services. The proposal, which the agency's acting Director Lewis Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to extend the age of draft registration to 34 years old, up from 25. The Selective Service System plan, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, highlights the extent to which agency officials have planned for an expanded military draft in case the administration and Congress would authorize one in the future. 'In line with today's needs, the Selective Service System's structure, programs and activities should be re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory of American men and, for the first time, women, ages 18 through 34.' "

BuzzFlash finds the fatal flaw in Bush's plans for the draft: " 'unless the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law is changed, those who publicly identify themselves as gay or lesbian would be ineligible to serve in the military - the unintended consequence of which is that young people are likely to find an easy 'out,' as it were. Much to Bush's chagrin, if there is a draft, same-sex marriage might find a much broader support base. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson may suddenly find their young male followers holding hands, and their young female believers kissing before a statue of the virgin Mary. A whole generation of draft-eligible youth, including young Republicans, may suddenly discover they are gay. But don't be alarmed Falwell and Robertson, it's God's way of saving these young lives from the deadly plans of men who believe that they are masters of the universe. The Lord works in strange ways - and the Bush draft may just end being the biggest recruiting tool for homosexuality in history."

"A senior Republican lawmaker said that deteriorating security in Iraq may force the United States to reintroduce the military draft. 'There's not an American ... that doesn't understand what we are engaged in today and what the prospects are for the future,' Senator Chuck Hagel told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on post-occupation Iraq. 'Why shouldn't we ask all of our citizens to bear some responsibility and pay some price?' Hagel said, arguing that restoring compulsory military service would force 'our citizens to understand the intensity and depth of challenges we face.' The Nebraska Republican added that a draft, which was ended in the early 1970s, would spread the burden of military service in Iraq more equitably among various social strata." On a Sunday talk show, Hagel denied he meant a "draft", but instead said it would be some kind of "compulsory service." A draft by any other name is still a draft...a draftisadraftisadraft...

Connor Freff Cochran writes, "Despite statements to the contrary, quiet preparations for the return of the draft have been under way for some time. The Selective Service System's Annual Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 2004 - despite a ton of obfuscatory jargon, acronyms, and bureaucrat-speak - can't quite manage to bury all of its bombshells... The 2004 plan commits the SSS to report to the president on March 31st, 2005, that the system is ready for activation with 75 days. If they manage the task, then the first lottery could happen as early as June 15th, 2005... The job of approving a draft officially belongs to both the President and Congress... and officially it can only happen if the country is at war. But... as far as the Bush administration is concerned we are at war in every respect. On the basis of this position the President has skated around the strict language of the Constitution and launched the invasion of two different countries."

The following timeline gives you the main events indicating the resumption of the military draft. According to this, the draft will be needed to maintain troop levels in Iraq past March 2005, barring double deployments. $28 million is allocated by the Selective Service to reduce activation time from the current 8 months to 75 days by March 31, 2005. If Bush asks Congress on April 1, 2005 to reinstate conscription, the first Draft Lottery could be June 15, 2005. A Medical Draft and a new Special Skills Draft would also be activated automatically. BTW, Kerry has stated he is opposed to the draft and has detailed how he would avoid having to reinstate it.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages... 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 to such a request...Flahavan said Selective Service planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts began last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas."

"At a checkpoint on the barren plain east of Baqouba, word of a new U.S. Army plan to pay soldiers up to $10,000 to re-enlist evoked laughter from a few bored-looking troopers. 'Man, they can't pay me enough to stay here,' said a 23-year-old specialist from the Army's 4th Infantry Division as he manned the checkpoint with Iraqi police outside this city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad... Staff Sgt. Julian Guerrero, 38, who runs a re-enlistment program for a battalion in the 4th ID based in Tikrit, said only 10 of the battalion's 80 eligible soldiers have taken the deal so far... Back-to-back wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have stretched the Army thin. Nearly two-thirds of its active duty brigade-sized units are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan... 'What we're trying to do is to manage the force now so that we don't have a falloff in recruitment or retention a year from now, and then have a gap where we have to scramble to rectify that,' Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday. "

They really are desperate to fill these vacant Draft Board slots, aren't they? First, they scrub this Draft Board recruitment ad, then they post it back on the SSS Home Page! And check this change out: "There is NO connection between this ongoing, routine public outreach to compensate for natural board attrition and current international events." Yeah, sure, right. The use of large caps really convinced us...

"BushDraft.com was started to link all the news stories on Bush's plans for a draft, and provide a place where people can find non-biased reports and articles about the draft... Many people have said that they don't believe a draft will ever happen again. Believe me! There will be a draft in 2005 if Bush is not stopped. Click the proof button above and read some of those links. Only 44% of troops in Iraq have said they are going to re-enlist. War is dirty, demoralizing and its hard on the troops. And now Bush has cut veterans benefits! When you get injured you have to pay for your meals in hospital, some of our brave soldiers are living in such bad conditions, with such minimal supplies that many men are writing home to their families to get them to buy anti-biotics, boots, body armor and many other basic things. This is not a fun war, the men in Iraq are not having fun, they are demoralized, and the current suicide rate among our troops in Iraq is higher than it was during Vietnam."

Ron Paul (R-TX): "[The Iraq war] was encouraged by war profiteering, a desire to control natural resources (oil), and a Neo-con agenda of American hegemony with the goal of redrawing the borders of the countries of the Middle East. The inevitable failure of such a seriously flawed foreign policy cannot be contemplated by those who have put so much energy into this occupation... Many of our reservists and National Guardsmen cannot wait to get out and have no plans to re-enlist. The odds are that our policy of foreign intervention, which has been with us for many decades, is not likely to soon change. The dilemma of how to win an un-winnable war is the issue begging for an answer. To get more troops, the draft will likely be reinstated. The implicit prohibition of 'involuntary servitude' under the 13th Amendment to the Constitution has already been ignored many times so few will challenge the constitutionality of the coming draft."

"The US Army Reserve fell short of its reenlistment goals this fiscal year, underscoring Pentagon fears that the protracted conflict in Iraq could cause a crippling exodus from the armed services. The Army Reserve has missed its retention goal by 6.7%, the second shortfall since fiscal 1997. It was largely the result of a larger than expected exodus of career reservists, a loss of valuable skills because such staff members are responsible for training junior officers and operating complex weapons systems. 'The Army has invested an enormous amount of money in training these people, and they're very hard to replace,' said John Pike of globalsecurity.org. With extended deployments and increasingly deadly attacks by Iraqi guerrillas, Defense Department officials are scrambling to combat a broader downturn in retention and recruitment that they fear is on the horizon." Bribes aren't working - if Bush steals another term, get ready for a DRAFT.

DemocraticUnderground reports, "Oh, so there are 'no plans' to re-instate the draft? No, there are just EXERCISES and $28 million extra to get the whole Selective Service ready and open for business by June 15, 2005!! Read this official budget carefully and you will see that Bush is gearing up the draft--there is no longer any doubt about it. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005, that the system is ready for activation within 75 days. So on June 15, 2005, expect the announcement that the first draft lottery since Vietnam will be held for 20 year-olds... To put this all into context, the SSS has lain basically dormant for decades and now in the 2004 budget, Bush has added $28 million to get the whole thing ready to fly in 2005. The 4 performance goals below basically make the system ready for activation."

The Memory Hole: "On 23 Sept 2003, the Defense Department Website called 'Defend America' posted a notice for people to join local draft boards. 'If a military draft becomes necessary,' the notice explained, '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.' In early November, that notice started to receive media attention, with articles from the Associated Press, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer , the Oregonian, the Toronto Star, the BBC, and London Guardian (unsurprisingly, none of the major papers or networks in the US covered it). In a familiar turn of events, the notice suddenly disappeared from the Website. We've mirrored the page and posted the text below."

"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... 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."

Here's an article the Pentagon quietly published on 9-22-03. "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... 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." With draft boards in place, all BushFeld needs to send you or your child to occupation duty in the Iraq shooting gallery is a Nazi salute from Tom DeLay and Bill Frist. Note: YOU can serve on a Draft Board! Board Members must be citizens of the United States, at least 18 years old, and registered with the Selective Service (if male). They 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. Click the link to volunteer!