OT: House votes to end draft registration

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House votes to end draft registration, here. Comments?

-- Mori-Nu (silkenet@yahoo.com), September 10, 1999

Answers

I really have to agree with Ron's comment, "Not only is the notion of involuntary servitude at odds with our system of law and tradition of liberty, but it is not in keeping with the needs and demands of a 21st Century defense program."

-- Klar (klarbrunn@lycos.com), September 10, 1999.

Wow! When they were talking about bringing the Draft back, we thought for sure that would be the route they'd choose. They really must not think Y2K will precipitate the need for voluminous urgent forces.

So what else is necessary before this is a done deal? More votes? Anybody know?

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), September 10, 1999.


"So what else is necessary before this is a done deal? "

Either it goes as-is to the Senate, or the Senate votes on a similar bill and the two bills are merged in joint conference.

In either case, BJ Clinton has to sign it.

-- Anonymous99 (Anonymous99@Anonymous99.xxx), September 10, 1999.


You mean Mister Labile Morality HIMSELF?????

The guy who is a poster child for flexible (Pravda means) Truth?

(Couldn't help the RAH ref)

OY

Night Train

-- Jes' a (thankfully) ol' footballer lookin' for the light (nighttr@in.lane), September 10, 1999.


A & L - Wow! "When they were talking about bringing the Draft back, we thought for sure that would be the route they'd choose. They really must not think Y2K will precipitate the need for voluminous urgent forces."

That is assuming that the goal is to have a strong military capable of defending and protecting the U.S. citizens from enemies foreign and domestic. If that is not the goal then even grave concerns about Y2K would not lead to a draft.

Closing military bases. Withdrawal from Panama and Haiti. Decreased forces spread thin around the globe. Defense secrets allowed to fall into enemy hands.

Perhaps the goal is not what we think.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), September 10, 1999.



I don't think Americans would put up with a small scale draft, because they would feel that it was unfair (and I think it would be). And there has to be a pre-existing crisis affecting America directly and obviously to obtain support for a large scale draft, IMO.

It seems to me as well that they don't really need to have draft registration to keep track of the males of an eligible age. Couldn't they just search the SSN database for males born within a certain time frame? Or even driver's licenses? So isn't it a waste of money anyway?

Furthermore, I can tell you that I don't want any of my kids going to sacrifice their lives on the judgement and orders of this commander-in-chief. Because when he was a peon, and was called on to be the one risking his life, he ran away.

His statement that it was for conscientious reasons is belied by his military actions taken since he took office. Contrary to what he says (which is quite meaningless anyway, since he doesn't seem to know himself what is true and what isn't), I think he wanted to save his own skin at all costs when he abandoned his country's call to arms.

Convictions strong enough to make him dodge the draft should have lasted through his presidency, yet there is zero evidence of any convictions based on any moral standard other than hedonism and short-term gain. "Selfishness" and "weak character" and "cowardice", on the other hand, would explain all of his actions without contradiction.

How would the government have the moral authority to punish those who went AWOL? Or dodged the draft? At least while they were under our current president's orders, that is.

Action that lacks moral authority in this way is how widespread unrest in a previously united country could develop--if the standards get to be too obviously double, you have to use extremely harsh measures to control people, historically, and the law-abiding citizen becomes a product of capital punishment for even minor crimes, as opposed to what we have right now (with some exceptions, like inner cities, where people already percieve a significant double standard).

-- S. Kohl (kohl@hcpd.com), September 10, 1999.


The draft registration program, as implemented, was inherently in violation of true equal opportunity. If it is ever reconstituted, it must be gender unbiased.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 10, 1999.

Agreed, Monk. I'd also like to point out that modern conflict does not / will not require thousands and thousands of footsoldiers. The Information Age changes the face of the battlefield to make the successful military consist of talented technicians; untrained, technically challenged "grunts" are practically worthless.

-- mil (millenium@yahoo.com), September 11, 1999.

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