Let me reiterate: adding $28 million to the Selective Service budget and ordering them to be ready for conscription by June 15, 2005 is noteworthy, don't you think? If that's not noteworthy, what is? Hakeem playing minor league baseball? ALF taking over the White House? Cuttino passing the ball? The article mrpaige mentions (Salon article) indicates that the government is quietly moving to fill draft board positions. That in and of itself says a lot. But take from it what you want. Maybe there will be a draft, and maybe there won't -- but these moves, at the very least, indicate that the White House thinks conscription is a viable option.
I'm not sure about this because I can't figure out if the figure is funding for '04, in which case it would be a $2 million increase from '03 or an additional $28 million on top of the '04 base funding, which would be more than double. In any case, it's interesting that the the SSS says HCPDS is designed to be implmented along with a national mobilization... here's the language from their site... ___________ The Health Care Personnel Delivery System (HCPDS) is a standby plan developed for the Selective Service System at the request of Congress. If needed it would be used to draft health care personnel in a crisis. It is designed to be implemented in connection with a national mobilization in an emergency, and then only if Congress and the President approve the plan and pass and sign legislation to enact it. No portion of the plan is designed for implementation in peacetime. If implemented, HCPDS would: Provide a fair and equitable draft of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and those with certain other health care skills if, in some future emergency, the military’s existing medical capability proved insufficient and there is a shortage of volunteers. Include women, unless directed otherwise by Congress and the President. Draft a very small percentage of America’s health care providers into military service. Impact on the availability of civilian health care would be minimal. Those health-care workers whose absence would seriously hurt their communities would be deferred on the basis of community essentiality. Begin a mass registration of male and female health care workers between the ages of 20 and 45. They would register at local post offices. HCPDS would provide medical personnel from a pool of 3.4 million doctors, nurses, specialists and allied health professionals in more than 60 fields of medicine. Require minimal training for HCPDS draftees, because they are already skilled personnel.
So basically you're saying that my sons AND my father (a physician and retired Air Force Major) could be drafted come 2004?
Possibly... though I'm still wary of this whole thing... all agencies have to do one of these plans under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and sometimes they just make up easily met goals so they can look good. We need more info to determine if this is real or just a bureaucratic creation in response to GPRA. By the way, the minimal training they're talking about is how to deal with war injuries instead of say, car crashes.
Actually, since my father is turning 59 this month, it would be unlikely he'd be tapped as a physician (it says aged up to 45 on what was posted). Even though he served in the Air Force during the Viet nam era, he didn't leave Texas and didn't deal with too much in the way of war injuries (and has never really dealt with trauma cases anyway). The mother of my sons, though, would have to register as would both my step-mothers (current and former) as they are all medical professionals under the age of 45 (dad married young after Mom) and could be affected if such a plan were ever activated. So, I might be taking the ex-wife to Canada with us.
I would still like to know, from all the Republicans out there, the Independents, and the Democrats... are you willing to pay higher taxes, do without Bush's tax cuts (if they affect you), and step up to the plate to fund a larger, better equipped, better supplied, better trained (by actually having munitions to train with) military? And a substantial increase in benefits for the members of the service, and their families? I am. This reminds me of when LBJ tried to have the Great Society and fight Vietnam at the same time... except I think one could argue that Iraq has much less justification than our misadventure in Southeast Asia. And this is coming from someone who was bitterly opposed to it at the time, went through the first draft lottery (which is being set up for possible use in the SSS budget that is on their website), and had friends who didn't "luck out" with a high number. Iraq was a war that could have waited. We had unfinished business in Afghanistan and the Tribal Areas of Pakistan, and we now have a huge % of our military tied down for the foreseeable future in a conflict that saps us of our readiness for other possible threats to our security. It is amazingly expensive. Are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to pay for what is needed for our military now that we are involved in Iraq and cannot just leave, wash our hands of it, and walk away declaring a phony victory? How about it? You willing to do without the massive tax cuts and pay higher taxes to take care of business? I am.
Maybe. There's no draft right now, obviously. But, as it says on the Selective Service website, conscription could be re-activated on June 15, 2005. And even then, Congress would have to pass a bill authorizing a draft. Then it would have to be signed by the President. Then the Selective Service would have 193 days to deliver the first draftees into the military. This is just a first step toward that possible eventuality. I hope to God the government doesn't conscript our young men -- that's why the recent funding increase, mandate to fill more draft board positions, and commitment to be ready for activation by 2005 is so bothersome. Maybe it's just typical procedure or it's just bureaucratic housekeeping. I sure hope so.
Not if you're in Canada! (I'm leaning towards New Zealand, myself. I've had a fantasy about living there for years. Now with all the LOTR vistas, maybe the wife will go for it. At least there you can choose your climate. )
We already spend more on "defense" than the next 20 countries *combined.* Pull us out of Iraq, and there's no funding problem. Our military is bloated and inefficient due to horrible corporate contracts and influence -- that's why soldiers get the raw deal so often. Hell, if we let the U.N. take over in Iraq and Afghanistan, we could economize our military and give soldiers the benefits (and protection) they deserve. Just changing our military policy back to "defend" instead of "attack" would save us countless billions. I do wanna repeal the ridiculous tax cuts, but I don't wanna blow it on already oversized military -- spend our money at home, on our schools, on our health, on our infrastructure. There are enough bombs in the world already. And Deckard -- I'd LOVE to see New Zealand. When I found out there's where LOTR was filmed, I decided that's where I'll retire!
I'm thinking Vancouver so I can both help my sons avoid the draft AND stalk that Kristin Kreuk from the Smallville show. I have a detailed plan.
Many of the medical proffesionals that were called up as reservists simply replaced the active duty personel that went overseas. Is having a system in place to make sure our troops and family members have medical care that horendous of an act? The military has always suffered in trying to attract and retain physcians. 95% of officers either gain their commissions through attending a service academy, Officer Candidate School, or ROTC. Doctors, Nurses, Dentist and Attorneys simply have to attend a 2 week course where they teach you how to tie your boots and salute. It's ridicilious how difficult it is for the military to find Doc's. And with the war going on in Iraq, the challenge can not be any easier. Now I'm sure someone wants to link me to defending Bush with this explanation. Whomever thought of this idea, I say good job.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to provide health care to our service personnel. And you do that by making good monetary offers and waiting for the volunteers. You don't force them to do what you want to do by going to a draft. And there is the separate issue of refilling the draft boards and moving toward an actual draft to find folks to force to fight in wars and the like. For the record, my father went to OCS after college and medical school. And he volunteered for the Air Force (during a time our country was at war) and served four years... in San Antonio. It was his choice to join, and I admire him for that choice. He basically did his Residency in the AF, and at the time, he actually made more money doing his Residency in the military than he would've working for a hospital. That's how you get volunteers. Had he been forced by the government to do it, though, it would've been a different matter.
Well spanky, time have changed. Your not your father, and this isn't the 1950's. I'm also prior military, and spent five year in the service. You register with selective service with the understanding your butt can be selected for the draft. This "precaution" seems to be just that. If worst comes to worst, our troops get the help they need without the government sitting around waiting for a nation to spit out heros. Sure, give them more money if that helps. They give pretty good incentives to Doctors already just to join. By the way, OBC and OCS are vastly different schools. OBC is the course physcians off-the-street have to attend to get commissioned. It's two weeks, and you learn how to salute. No basic training, nothing physical... it's a complete joke. On top of that, they give monstrous student loan forgiveness and bonuses. The military has made it so simple to attract Doctors, but still can not get these guys to come in. Now let's just say the military made ALL officers go through the same hoopla, they would have to attend OCS, which is a three month triathlon. You pretty much need to be able to run 9-10 miles per hour for 5 miles each day. Your up and running eveyday put under mental and physical stress everyday 16-18 hour days for 13 weeks. You earn your rank this route. Im for it. But then again, maybe it's unfair to put everyone else under the same standards as myself since I wouldn't beitch and cry like a baby if the men of my country needed me.
It might be worth remembering that, if George W. Bush wins the 2004 election, his actions won't reflect the only thing keeping him in check now - the need for re-election. Looking at what he's done so far, consider what he'd do if the chains were off. In that context, the possibility of the draft being re-implemented does not seem completely far-fetched. Also, a common tactic on all Federal moves the will meet public resistance has always been to implement them gradually, one small measure at a time, little steps that don't attract much attention, until the sum total of all those little steps adds up to the big step they've been after all along but have had to obscure.
So when Charley Rangel says we need a draft it's all fun and games...hilarious to see all the libs so scared now when they think it may actually happen.
This is analagous to me taking a quote about AIDS directly from a hospital website and then claiming that all the Houston Rockets have AIDS. It's not the source or information that have ruined your credibility, GV76, it is the method in which you misinterpreted the data and decided to take this very flawed conclusion and broadcast it with your sensationalist thread title. You dug your own grave with this one, big 'un. All in another attempt to slander the President. Don't let emotions overtake your common sense, as you furiously make efforts at demeaning the public servants who serve America. At this point, you are standing nude in Times Square after just stepping out of a cold swimming pool. EXPOSED
It's interesting you keep saying everything is "flawed" and "sensationalistic," yet you have yet to counter *ANYTHING* said. If it's so wrong, you should be able to pick it apart -- but you just talk about digging graves and standing naked in Times Square. You simply regurgitate shallow platitudes and baseless character attacks -- the two laziest ways to discuss any serious issue. Contrary to what you'd like to believe, nothing I wrote was out of context attempts to "slander the President." If you read the Selective Service text (or even what I wrote), you'd know that. But I guess it's more fun for you to imagine guys explosing themselves.
There doesn't need to be a draft. Bush can simply: 1. declare all 18-29 year old males as enemy combatants. 2. Have MP'S arrest them 3. don't allow them to make phone calls 4. deport them to his hot spot of choice and put an M-16 in their hands as they shove them out of the plane. I wish this was a joke.
I'm not sure about this, but all you Canada-loving commies ought to do a little research. I believe there has been some fairly recent agreements between us and them where it would be much harder to duplicate the Vietnam dodger experience. Of course, I think if it were in response to Iraq, there would be tremendous internal pressure in Canada to not enforce the law. Also, what's the deal wioth Mexico? Cabo's nice.
