Arabella Figg 2003
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2003
- Messages
- 445
See http://www.startribune.com/stories/1557/4844069.html
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Although there hasn't been a draft in more than 30 years, 22-year-old Minneapolis college graduate Nathan Mittelstaedt is worried that he might be forced into military service.
He's not alone.
Despite shaky evidence -- and denials by top officials -- Mittelstaedt and many other young people in Minnesota and across the nation are convinced that a draft is secretly in the works. Through mass e-mails and Internet sites, the word is going out that as early as next June, men and women as old as 34 will be subject to random, mandatory military service.
The rumors have been sparked by debate in Congress and what some say is suspicious behavior by the Selective Service System. The fears have been exacerbated by news reports about troops stretched thin around the globe and the Pentagon's recent "stop-gap" order to extend tours of duty in Iraq.....
President Bush and his presumptive Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, have said they support increasing the size of the armed forces. This has kept others, including independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, worried about a draft.
Nader warned in a "Message to America's Students" posted on his Web site that "the Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards, as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is being quietly put into place." Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese said the Nader campaign will be doing even more to raise concern about a draft.
The warnings are "totally necessary," Zeese said. "Students should get organized, because these things can happen very quickly."
J.E. McNeil, executive director of the Washington-based Center on Conscience and War, is also working to put the possibility of a draft on the public radar screen. McNeil said she is booked through October with speaking engagements across the country.
"[The draft] is extremely likely," McNeil said. She added that she is committed to spreading the message so that people "aren't caught short after the election."
Lawrence Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political science professor and director of the 2004 Elections Project at the Humphrey Institute, said an "odd coalition" of liberal Democrats and "defense hawks" is keeping the issue relevant.
"When you see an idea that's around, and takes a beating and keeps ticking, you take notice," Jacobs said. "It's staying on the agenda ... I don't see yet the votes in Congress to pass this, but it's on the agenda."
Mittelstaedt, for one, is unmoved by the denials. To him, the draft is an inevitability if the country continues the global war on terrorism. "If we're going to continue to invade countries ... eventually we're going to run out of people to send," Mittelstaedt said.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Although there hasn't been a draft in more than 30 years, 22-year-old Minneapolis college graduate Nathan Mittelstaedt is worried that he might be forced into military service.
He's not alone.
Despite shaky evidence -- and denials by top officials -- Mittelstaedt and many other young people in Minnesota and across the nation are convinced that a draft is secretly in the works. Through mass e-mails and Internet sites, the word is going out that as early as next June, men and women as old as 34 will be subject to random, mandatory military service.
The rumors have been sparked by debate in Congress and what some say is suspicious behavior by the Selective Service System. The fears have been exacerbated by news reports about troops stretched thin around the globe and the Pentagon's recent "stop-gap" order to extend tours of duty in Iraq.....
President Bush and his presumptive Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, have said they support increasing the size of the armed forces. This has kept others, including independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, worried about a draft.
Nader warned in a "Message to America's Students" posted on his Web site that "the Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards, as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is being quietly put into place." Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese said the Nader campaign will be doing even more to raise concern about a draft.
The warnings are "totally necessary," Zeese said. "Students should get organized, because these things can happen very quickly."
J.E. McNeil, executive director of the Washington-based Center on Conscience and War, is also working to put the possibility of a draft on the public radar screen. McNeil said she is booked through October with speaking engagements across the country.
"[The draft] is extremely likely," McNeil said. She added that she is committed to spreading the message so that people "aren't caught short after the election."
Lawrence Jacobs, a University of Minnesota political science professor and director of the 2004 Elections Project at the Humphrey Institute, said an "odd coalition" of liberal Democrats and "defense hawks" is keeping the issue relevant.
"When you see an idea that's around, and takes a beating and keeps ticking, you take notice," Jacobs said. "It's staying on the agenda ... I don't see yet the votes in Congress to pass this, but it's on the agenda."
Mittelstaedt, for one, is unmoved by the denials. To him, the draft is an inevitability if the country continues the global war on terrorism. "If we're going to continue to invade countries ... eventually we're going to run out of people to send," Mittelstaedt said.
