snipped from G. North's daily reckoning report:
UNCLE SAM WANTS YOU, SWEETIE
On May 1, the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" ran this report.
WASHINGTON -- The chief of the Selective Service System
has proposed registering women for the military draft
and requiring that young Americans regularly inform the
government about whether they have training in niche
specialties needed in the armed services.
The proposal, which the agency's acting Director Lewis
Brodsky presented to senior Pentagon officials just
before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, also seeks to
extend the age of draft registration to 34 years old,
up from 25.
The Selective Service System plan, obtained under the
Freedom of Information Act, highlights the extent to
which agency officials have planned for an expanded
military draft in case the administration and Congress
would authorize one in the future.
"In line with today's needs, the Selective Service
System's structure, programs and activities should be
re-engineered toward maintaining a national inventory
of American men and, for the first time, women, ages 18
through 34, with an added focus on identifying
individuals with critical skills," the agency said in a
Feb. 11, 2003, proposal presented to senior Pentagon
officials. . . .
The agency officials acknowledged that they would have
"to market the concept" of a female draft to Congress,
which ultimately would have to authorize such a step.
http://tinyurl.com/2tt9g
There is an old rule regarding government policy: "Don't
believe a rumor until it is officially denied." Selective
Service has posted this on its website.
Notwithstanding recent stories in the news media and on
the Internet, Selective Service is not getting ready to
conduct a draft for the U.S. Armed Forces -- either
with a special skills or regular draft. Rather, the
Agency remains prepared to manage a draft if and when
the President and the Congress so direct. This
responsibility has been ongoing since 1980 and is
nothing new. Further, both the President and the
Secretary of Defense have stated on more than one
occasion that there is no need for a draft for the War
on Terrorism or any likely contingency, such as Iraq.
Additionally, the Congress has not acted on any
proposed legislation to reinstate a draft. Therefore,
Selective Service continues to refine its plans to be
prepared as is required by law, and to register young
men who are ages 18 through 25.
http://www.sss.gov/Default.htm
We are losing the war in Iraq. Over 1,000 American troops
have died. This week, the Shi'ite insurgency persuaded the
company that controls the oil pipeline in Basra to shut it off
for the time being. This means that world oil output fell in one
day by 1.8 million barrels.
The fighting with Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia
began to have economic fallout. Iraq's southern oil
company stopped pumping oil to the southern city of
Basra -- where militiamen were controlling main streets
-- because of threats to infrastructure, an official
with the company said.
About 1.8 million barrels per day, or 90 per cent of
Iraq's exports, move through Basra. Iraq's other outlet
from the north to Turkey has been out of operation
since early June, so a stoppage from Basra threatens to
completely shut down the flow of Iraq's main money
earner.
http://tinyurl.com/4d788
Iraq's oil was supposed to pay the reconstruction bills.
The military bills must also be paid. American taxpayers are
unwilling to pay them. So, the deficit will continue to be in
the 6% range of the real economy for the foreseeable future.
Kerry has no answer. He speaks in grand, empty phrases.
They all boil down to this: "I shall wheel and deal." Bush has
no answer. If Bush had an answer, it would be implemented.
American troops are trapped in a disaster zone that keeps getting
worse.
The candidates dare not refer to a draft, but that is where
we are headed. After three decades, the draft will have to be
restored during the next Congress unless we have pulled out our
troops, which no candidate says he is willing to do.
So, add to the paralysis over the deficit a major political
fight over the draft. Middle-class parents are not interested
having their children sent to Iraq. But that is where the kids
are headed if a new draft law is passed by Congress.
If it isn't passed, then the President, whoever he may be,
will have to increase the pay scale of the military or else pull
the troops out.
Neither candidate is willing to discuss any of this. No one
asks. It's "don't ask, don't say" on a national level. A
conspiracy of silence prevails.