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For those in the U.S. worried about the DRAFT: IT WONT HAPPEN
The draft will not happen, as I will explain the following points.(with some history and numbers. bear with me if this topic is of relevance for you.)
1 - As many have said, the President does not have the authority! This is heated topic as it is election year, and some people are worried about it with the upcoming election.)
2 - There are two legislations about the Draft: Senate Bill 89, House Resolution 163. Both would require males and females two 2 years of mandatory service between ages of 18-26. (Both were proposed by Democrats: Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15], [SC] (introduced 1/7/2003.)
3 - Each year, Congresses passes something called the Military Authorization Act and Military Appropriations Act. Every year, they can increase the size of the military. Instead, they choose not to.
(Although in 2003, there was a "temporary" increase of 20,000 for the Army)
4 - Stop-loss has been used the past 14 years since Bush senior. Clinton used it in Bosnia and Kosovo, and now Bush is using it for Afghanistan and Iraq.
5 - This year, Congress told the Air Force and Navy that they were too big. Both services have to reduce their forces by thousands by 2006 of September.
6 - Active Duty services have met their recuiting goals in the past few years. Congress could expand the active duty by three times and we would still have enough people to volunteer. My friend, with a college degree, couldnt even get in Officer Candidate School, and had to be on the waiting list just to enlist. Another friend is applying two years early into Army Ranger School. Standards are going up too, as now the Army only accepts 10% of recruits with GEDs. It used to be a cakewalk to enter! (as though high school is so hard! =p)
7- Reserve forces. Is our military too small for today's need and current situation? Of course it is. Because Congress wont allow the military to grow, the Army is forced to call upon reservists who should be staying home and helping out during national emergencies.
8 - Now, Why wouldnt Congress increase our military? 1: money. 2: money. 3: money (Go into detail later)
9 - Each person on active duty costs the government many thousands of dollars per month (pay, benefits, training, uniforms, transportation, food, personnel costs, etc.) Congress (and the Bush Administration) are simply not willing to add several more billions of dollars to the Defense Department budget. It's that simple.
10 - Training and Conflicts of the future: A draft was a way to fight a war 50 years ago. In today's military, even the basic infantry is "high tech." You don't train someone to operate and maintain highly sophisticated military equipment overnight. It takes a minimum of 18 months to 2 years to turn out a trained Soldier, Airman, Sailor, or Marine. It takes even longer than that for many military specialties. (ex: Navy SEALS, Army Green Beret, Army Ranger, Air Force PJ/CCT, Marine Force Recon)
11 - According to the Selective Service, if a draft were implemented today, it would take 193 days for the first inductee to report in. After that, it would take another 12 to 18 months to train them and form them into new combat units. In short, if we instituted a draft today, inductees would not be effective until about two years from now (at which time, their two year service commitment would be over ).
12 - Quality of Troops: Many of today's military members would trust their life with someone who volunteered rather than someone who was threated by prison. If we were to re-instate the draft, and the military was forced to accept everyone, regardless of criminal/drug/medical/test score qualifications, we would be larger, but much, much less effective. It's not numbers that count. It's training and technology.
13 - MONEY: All the senators and congressmen are full of it and they know it. There is no way the military could afford 22 million draftees.
(According to the Selective Service, there are currently 11 million men eligible for the draft in that age-range. However, both bills apply to women as well, so about 22 million would be required to serve. Keep in mind that these bills do not just require a portion of them to be drafted, they require everyone to serve.)
Why? Here is some simple math:
Assume each person was paid the lowest possible as (E-1), which as of the 2004 year, was $1193.40 USD/Month. Multiply it by 22 million, you get $26 billion per month. In one year, you get $315 Billion!
Now, for food, they get $150/month. 22 million = $39 billion/year
and housing? they get $500/month. Oh wait, did I forget equipment , training, relocation, and uniform costs?
14 - Senator Hollings and Mr. Rangel introduced the legislation over a year ago (January 2003), as a means of protest against a potential invasion of Iraq. Congress immediately stuck them "in committee" to die (that's what Congress does with bills that have absolutely no chance of passing).
The two bills have languished there, ever since, with absolutely no action being taken.
Hollings version has just 14 co-sponsors, and Rangel's bill has no support at all. Folks, these bills have ZERO chances of passing.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdque...3:@@@L&summ2=m&
See? Its been stuck there since 2003.
(summarized from usmilitary.about.com)
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that Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Powell all misled people about.
