The DRAFT is Coming -- Alternet article (must read)

The Coming Draft

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18225

By Connor Freff Cochran, AlterNet
March 25, 2004

In 1973, forced conscription ended in favor of an all-volunteer military. As the gap between the capacity of America's armed forces and the demands of current deployment widens, the likelihood of a reinstated draft grows.


Reports were recently circulated that a "special skills" draft was on the table specifically for people skilled in computers and foreign languages. The Selective Service countered the allegations with a statement on their website, stating that the Selective Service is merely fulfilling its role and hasn't ramped up in anticipation of a coming draft: "Selective Service is not getting ready to conduct a draft for the U.S. Armed Forces – either with a special skills or regular draft. Rather, the Agency remains prepared to manage a draft if and when the President and the Congress so direct. This responsibility has been ongoing since 1980 and is nothing new."

Twenty-one of the US Army's 33 regular combat brigades are now on active duty in the "hot" zones of Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, and the Balkans. That's 63 percent of the Army's fighting force ... all without factoring in additional troops stationed in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere around the globe.


This is a huge overextension. History has proven that long-term military operations can only be sustained if you have twice as many soldiers waiting in the pipeline as are stationed out in the field. By that rule of thumb, the regular military is now 125,000 soldiers short – a gap the Bush administration has temporarily plugged by calling more than 150,000 Army Reserve and National Guard troops into active service..


-snip-

...unless the children of the rich are automatically exempt.

to their medical exam like Howard Dean, with their X-rays and medical diagnoses and the poor arrive with nothing. Then the rich are shown the door and the poor are thrown onto the bus. That's how it works.

Also Alternative Service can be used by the rich (and the poor who manage to get the counseling). So there are ways right now.

In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that no matter what happens in November, it will return. There is a momentum in history - and we've turned a lot of people against us.

If that's true, we may be in for a very bumpy ride...