[Mb-civic] Draft?

[Michael Butler]

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    Draft? 
    The Charleston Gazette

     Wednesday 22 September 2004
 Bush¹s war needs troops.


    Alarm is spreading that President Bush may seek a military draft, or
mobilize more of the National Guard and Army Reserve, to obtain enough
combat troops to wage his bogged-down Iraq war.

     Two bills pending in Congress would launch a new draft for all young
Americans ages 18 to 26, both male and female, with no college exemption.
Also, a new border agreement with Canada is designed to prevent young
Americans from fleeing northward to elude the draft.

     When Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards spoke in
Parkersburg last week, he vowed: ³There will be no draft when John Kerry is
president.² His declaration drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

     Meanwhile, President Bush, campaigning in Missouri, promised that there
will be no draft. He said improving military pay, housing and medical care
will attract enough recruits to supply the needed fighting forces.

     However, Bush plans a sneaky ³backdoor draft,² Democrats Kerry and
Edwards allege. Speaking Friday in Albuquerque, Kerry said Bush secretly
intends a major Guard and Reserve mobilization just after the Nov. 2
election. Kerry charged:

     ³He won¹t tell us what congressional leaders are now saying: that this
administration is planning yet another substantial call-up of reservists and
Guard units immediately after the election. Hide it from the people, then
make the move.²

     Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a Marine veteran of Vietnam, said Pentagon
insiders told him of the mobilization plan. A White House spokesman
ridiculed the allegation.

     Amid all this wrangling, it¹s overwhelmingly clear that Bush¹s war is
draining America of thousands of young people and billions of dollars ‹ and
the nation is forced to meet both needs.

     Tragically, the war is a waste. There never was a necessity for it.
Bush¹s far-right political clique planned to attack Iraq, even before he
attained the White House. The 9/11 terrorist strike provided a ³cover² ‹ a
surge of patriotism that Bush manipulated into justification for war against
Iraq. All his pretexts for the invasion turned out to be false.

     Although he declared ³Mission Accomplished² last year, the fighting
grows constantly uglier and more expensive. More than 1,000 young Americans
have been killed. Bush needs more and more replacements.

     Before the Nov. 2 election, he should tell the American people candidly
how many more young soldiers he plans to order into combat ‹ and how he will
obtain them.

 

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