I don't want my son to be drafted.....what are my options?

about once a month, the u.s. government calls here, asking for my son to enlist. the last several times, i picked up the phone and yelled '---- ---!" and slammed it down. today, he received his official registration notice, so i guess by law, he has to sign up.

my oldest son, who is 33 now, wanted to join up during the first bushwar, out of a sense of misguided patriotism i think, and i talked him out of it, pointing out that the cause was not a noble one.

i remember during the viet nam draft, many men i knew did everything imaginable to avoid being drafted, including one guy who shot himself in the foot. (didn't help) and another guy who tried to act gay. and one more who pretended to be nuts.

dick cheney got about 5 student deferments, ("I had other priorities")
and i was wondering what legal deferment options i might take advantage of, besides the student one.

i thought since i was a crippled up old man, i might make him my legal 'assistant helper' or whatever the terminology is.

if my son wants to enlist, i won't stop him, only discourage him from it. but i don't want my son to be sent against his will to fight and die for an evil purpose, namely, the enrichment of billionaire maniacs.

if anyone knows, or remembers, i'd like to know just what the deferment options are. if dick cheney can do it, i want my son to have the same breaks.

thanks for that. bookmarked it.

http://www.warresisters.org/

If he goes the conscientious objector route, it's good to have some record of it, some people who can say that it wasn't a decision made the night before.

the one that looks like a dollar sign with missiles.

:)

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but one could theoretically pop up, and is under consideration, i'm sure

A few months ago the Selective Service were seeking volunteers to serve on local draft boards, I requested a packet and have just received my Certificate of Appointment.

All that remains is attending training classes, to cover the draft system overall, what exemptions will be allowed, etc.

I'll try to keep you updated on what happens and when.

a draft were truly needed. And the time could come, if aWol were reelected, that they may try floating trial ballons, as they often do.

But to do it would take an act of Congress, which is, IMHO, not gonna happen.

As Clark says, change the failed foreign policy, not the manning system which works fine.

:toast:


And there won't be one, unless the whole world decides to come invade us to save the planet. Then, they'd still be outmatched.

I declare hereby the political impossibility of reinstatement of the draft (in the world as we know it).

Can your crystal ball tell us who's going to win in November. :D

But I can guarantee you that either man would doom his political career by strongly campaigning now for the return of the draft, insisting it be a plank in the platform, bashing the other guy for not supporting it, etc.

Doomed, I tell you.

Hey, we could do an experiment to prove this if one of them would try it. Does KKKarl read DU?

:evilgrin:

both healthy able bodied males from a low income family. We get at least 5 calls a week from recruiters (mostly USMC),and the junk mail all of the branches send them is regular.
My boys are anti-bu$h pacifists who are in the CA junior college system right now. I am terrified at the possibilty of them being drafted to be cannon fodder for bu$h's war for oil and global domination.
I WILL NOT LET THEM TAKE MY KIDS!

he's gay.

That should keep him out.

lines. And those disclosing that they are gay would probably be segragated and have seperate sleeping quarters...
I fear that if there is a draft, like in Viet Nam, the poor and minorities would fill the brunt of the quotas.

requires that you leave the military if you tell.

the draft by sending that coward in the white house back to Texas/vote him out.

if bush is elected in November, he will be prone to see it as his call from God to carry forth his sword of truth. Yikes! More invasions of countries he feels are evil. Now, the truth is our military leaders aren't looking to get into more fights with soldiers like Jessica Lynch. Not being a sexist, just serious. Anyone with half a brain knows you wouldn't want her type in a fight on a playground .... much less a war. So where will they turn? To anyone who believes a draft "can't" happen, please take off your rose-colored glasses and participate in the real world with the rest of us.Do you think cheney, Halliburton, and the like would hesitate for a moment to send more kids to their death for $$$ & the flag? The single best source for information on C.O. is the Center on Conscience & War (formerly NISBCO). If there were more room available on d.u., I would be glad to do an extended article on C.O. issues. A person does not have to belong to an "organized religion" though it is important to begin to document "proof" of a belief system that is opposed to war. One of my thoughts is to form a de-centralized group that has well-defined spiritual/religious values that can be used if and when a draft ever returns. I have worked for over 20 years with one of the Wisdom Keepers from the Onondaga Nation, and am presently working on a book about "earth consciousness." Not "new age," not rigid rules, no collection plate. Rather, an awareness of the inter-connectness of all life on earth, the Power of the Good Mind, and the urgent need for human beings to learn to live in peace. No followers, no leaders.

They're very outspoken anti-war activists and a good group to have on your side if the draft is re-instated. It's ironic when you think the conscientious objectors will need religious support to stay off of the front line, when here at home, the religious freaks are so gun-ho for death and destruction. But of course we are living in a time when war is peace so I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

I share your fear though...I have 4 sons (2 stepsons)who are prime candidates for the draft and it scares the hell out of me what could be in store for them if Bush wins another term.

Best wishes and peace to you and your family.

the sargeant asks one private why he joined up and his response was "to avoid the draft," and when Sergaent Hulka (blowed up sir) informed the young man that there was no draft, the man said surprised, "you mean there used to be one?"

To paraphrase Sargeant Hulka, there ain't no draft, and there's not going to be one unles congress votes to start one, which they aren't stupid enough to do. They'll raise privates' salaries to $ 100,000 per year first. After all, it's not like it's their money.

So, there are a lot of things to worry about pertaining to your kids (and mine) before a draft will appear on my worry list.