Coastal Post Online
MARIN COUNTY'S NEWS MONTHLY - FREE PRESS
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(415)868-0502(fax) - P.O.
Box 31, Bolinas, CA, 94924
October, 2004
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Dodging Draft Will Be Difficult
Submitted By Perry Finkelstein
Right now there
is Pending Legislation concerning a Military Draft in the House and Senate
targeted for Spring 2005. The Selective Service System (Draft) will start in
June 2005 if we allow this legislation to pass. Twin bills (S 89 and HR 163)
will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin as early as Spring
2005 just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is quietly
trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the
elections, so our action on this is needed immediately.
$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS) budget
to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to
Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain
dormant for decades, is ready for activation. Please see web site:
<http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html> to view the SSS annual
performance plan - fiscal year 2004.
The Pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft
board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide. Though this is an
unpopular election year topic, military experts and influential members of
Congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard
slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on "terrorism"]
proves accurate, the US may have no choice but to draft.
Congress has brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward this year,
http://www.hslda.org/Legislation/National/2003/S89/default.asp entitled the
Universal National Service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common defense
by requiring that all young persons [age 18-26] in the United States, including women, perform a period
of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the
national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." These
active bills currently sit in the committee on armed services.
Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era. College and Canada will not be options. In December
2001, Canada and the US signed a "smart border declaration," which
could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign affairs, John
Manley, and US Homeland Security director, Tom
Ridge, the declaration involves a
30-point plan which implements, among other things, a "pre-clearance
agreement" of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at
making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminate
higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone
service until the end of their current semester. Seniors would have until the
end of the academic year.
Even those voters who currently support US actions abroad may still object
to this move, knowing their own children or grandchildren will not have a say
about whether to fight. This plan, among other things, eliminates higher
education as a shelter and includes women in the draft. The public has a right
to air their opinions about such an important decision.
Please send this on to all the friends, parents, aunts and uncles,
grandparents, and cousins that you know. Let your children know too -- it's
their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!
In addition to signing this petition, please also contact your
representatives to ask them why they aren't telling their constituents about
these bills -- and contact newspapers and other media outlets to ask them why
they're not covering this important story.
E-mail this petition to your friends.
Note: This STOP THE DRAFT - Our Youth Say NO to War! petition was submitted by
Perry Finkelstein. ThePetitionSite.com is a free service provided to help
concerned citizens rally support for issues they believe in. The opinions
expressed by this petition do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of
ThePetitionSite.com or Care2.com. There is no express or implied endorsement of
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speak out in the Care2 discussion boards.
Questions about this petition? Contact the petition sponsor: Perry Finkelstein
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http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/253324260
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