Is the draft coming back?

[me]

It is fact that the draft board has always been active and there is a call to apply for the vacant positions. I will just put this link up to outline one person perception of the situation.

It says it would be political suicide to mention the idea before an election but if Bu$h somehow steals another election, the military might not have a choice- www.buzzflash.com/farrell/03/11/far03001.html

[Commonsense]

Yes, of course the draft is coming back. Unless a miracle happens and Bush brings the troops back home.

Bush needs more troops for his fiasco. He appealed to other countries, but (oddly) they weren't interested in sacrificing their citizens for the Bush power grab. So he is certainly going to reinstate the draft.

He only hopes he doesn't have to do it before the election. Because that would be political suicide. Personally, I hope he does try to do it before the election because I don't like sharing the same planet with Bush and his cronies.

[Erin]

The draft is really confusing to me. I wasn't born during a time when the draft was being used. Who will be called? My husband isn't able to file head of household because we live with family members. Does that make him eligible to be drafted?

[Commonsense]

Living with family members doesn't prevent a person from being drafted. Neither does not being able to file as head of household.

If your husband is a young man who is healthy and of sound mind, and if his job here isn't vital to the national interest, he will most likely be what we affectionately call "cannon fodder."

Hope that answers your question.

[me]

The goal of the Selective Service Draft Boards is to be ready to start a draft in 75 days by next year. This is the report from the Selective Service System that says they need to be ready by March 31, 2005- www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html

[me]

They talk about drafting women for health care at the Selective Service website

www.sss.gov/FSmedical.htm

<snip>

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.

<snip>