This weeks segment of “Something You May Want to Know” deals with an issue that has been gaining support in Congress for the past three years. Right now since we have a new administration, it seems as if the measure is being silenced but we need to be educated on the matter so when it shows its ugly head, we can make sure that it’s defeated. You ask yourself, what is Political Little talking about???

We are talking about something that was very popular the past century that affected familys nation wide. Many participated voluntarily, but many did so against their own will. Some of our own presidents flew towards it and ole President Clinton flew away. If you havent guessed by now; I am talking about the military draft. In today’s age we identify the word draft with sports players from college who are chosen to play on a team by an organization. Although this draft has the same concept, the game is much more complicated.

This is one of the reasons I try and stay up to date on what’s going on in the countries that we currently are occupying and helping start democracy. My perception is that the government feels we are over extended in our troop levels. With Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq all with governments in turmoil, it makes the US have to keep decent troop levels in those countries to make sure they dont have a relapse in communism or dictatorship. Not far away are potential conflicts with the George Bushs self defined axis of evil which includes North Korea, Iran, and where ever Chavez is the president. In the previous times when America mandated a draft, troop levels were high, but so were the casualties since you had a lot of teenage boys who could have been trained better and not ready to engage in life threatening missions. Many came home as war heroes and would still fight to death for America, but a large number didn’t make it home and are remembered various times throughout the year for their life ending service. Since I didn’t live around that time I don’t know how Americans felt about the draft as a whole, but I remember there were numerous stories on people burning their draft cards.

A poll conducted by CBS when the draft was gaining momentum in Congress stated 68% of the respondents were against the draft. The kicker about this poll was that an even higher number of respondents didn’t want the draft when it was tied to the Iraq war in 2006; which says volumes since we felt we needed to invade Iraq to protect America. In case you thought you were going to outsmart the government by going to college and seeking refuge in another country; well that’s pretty much a wrap. A total of 28 million more in funds were appropriated in the selective services budget to make sure they are able to catch draft dodgers. What that means is no going to college so you wont be drafted or running to Canada. If you ever received any financial aid need you my friend are registered for Selective Service which is the entity that issues the draft cards in case it was ever reinstated. Although most of this information was relevant in 2006, before our new president, I choose to reveal it now because President Barack Obama has been contemplating on what to do with troop levels in Afghanistan and if he see’s the need to increase well this item of the draft more than likely will be put back on the agenda. Please do a quick google search to get more in depth information, and call your elected officials and let them know you oppose any measure to reinstate the draft.

http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3202

http://www.helium.com/knowledge/14332-the-case-for-reinstating-the-military-draft-in-the-usa

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/articles/04/draft.html

Political Little

Labels: military draft