Possible military draft should make us worry

Friday, June 10, 2005

We all know that politicians lie. It seems to be their stock in trade and is for the most part overlooked. Take weapons of mass destruction, for instance. President Bush and his "neocons" used this lie to massacre Iraqis and take the lives of nearly 1,500 American soldiers.

What political hit did they take for this? They were appointed for four more years.

That takes us to the issue of a new military draft. Based on past performance, we should be very scared that it is just over the horizon. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld all proclaim, "There is no need for it." But as Dr. Ron Paul, an eight-term Republican congressman says, "You don't listen to what they say; you watch what they do."

For example, the Pentagon and the Selective Service have plans for drafting health-care professionals ages 20-44. (And for the first time in our history, this would include women.) They also have plans for a "special skills" draft, which would include linguists, computer experts or engineers.

To put it in the most basic terms, a draft is slavery or worse. We outlawed forcing men and women to work the cotton fields but we force draftees to kill or be killed.

What really scares me about a draft would be that the Bush administration and its neocon ideologues would then have the soldiers needed to invade and conquer Syria and Iran. They would invent more lies, and the result would be many more deaths. These deaths would assuredly include our loved ones.

Visit or call Sen. Susan Collins or Sen. Olympia Snowe today. Tell them our children are not a pawns to be used in the quest for global domination. Get scared about the current state of affairs in our government. I am.

Richard B. Clement

Gardiner

randrclement@yahoo.com