Solomonia Archive: The Guardian and the draft

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

The Guardian and the draft - Looking for an angle

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Appeal for draft board volunteers revives memories of Vietnam era - Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington

The Pentagon has begun recruiting for local draft boards, dredging up painful memories of Vietnam era conscription at a time of deepening misgiving about America's occupation of Iraq.

Painful memories in whom? Ms. Goldenberg doesn't say. Perhaps they're painful memories dredged up in certain Guardian reporters. Flashbacks getting to you Suzanne?

In a notice posted on the defence department's Defend America website, Americans over the age of 18 and with no criminal record are invited to "serve your community and the nation" by volunteering for the boards, which decide which recruits should be sent to war.

Thirty years have passed since the draft boards last exerted their hold on America, deciding which soldiers would be sent to Vietnam. After Congress ended the draft in 1973, they have become largely dormant.

However, recruitment for the boards suggests that in some parts of the Pentagon all options are being explored in response to concerns that the US military has been stretched too thin in its occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Imagine that...the Pentagon...exploring all options...and planning ahead for a just in case scenario. Who woulda thunk it?

Although Pentagon officials denied any move to reinstitute the draft, the defence department website does not shirk at outlining the potential duties for a new crop of volunteers to the draft boards.

Oh, but they would deny it, wouldn't they? Apparently, they also denied beating their wives, introducing the AIDS virus to keep Africa in check, and projecting cosmic rays into Dennis Kucinich's hair gell.

"If a military draft becomes necessary, approximately 2,000 local and appeal boards throughout America would decide which young men who submit a claim receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service, based on federal guidelines," it said.

Pentagon officials were adamant that there were no plans to bring back the draft.

Yeah, yeah, where have we heard that before? Oh yeah, paragraph before last!

"That would require action from Congress and the president and they are not likely to do that unless there was something of the magnitude of the second world war that required it," said Dan Amon, a spokesman for the selective service department.

Alert! The Americans are planning on starting something the magnitude of the second world war!

Bringing back conscription would be catastrophic for George Bush in an election year,

Yeah, not to mention fostering fears that he's been replaced with his evil-twin from outer space since he's never mentioned or implied ever intending to do such a thing.

and at a time when parallels are increasingly being drawn between Iraq and Vietnam.

Who's increasingly drawing such parallels? Why, Guardian reporters, of course! It must be so easy to write articles like this. Just look inward, there you will find your story - it's self-writing.

However, officials were not immediately able to explain how the advertisement appeared on the site.

Someone uploaded it? Oh! Well...

Also unexplained is why the Pentagon would want to bother reinstating the draft when they don't seem to be having any trouble finding volunteers.

Mr Amon said the notices were a response to the natural attrition in the ranks of the draft board, where some 80% of 11,000 places are now vacant. "It is the routine cycle of things," he said.

"Routine!" Pfft...as if...It's been around 30 years since anyone was drafted. You mean to tell me it's just "routine" that the draft boards would be allowed to lapse into...disuse? GEORGE BUSH IS DESPERATELY SINKING INTO A VIET-NAM QUAGMIRE AND CONSIDERING DRAFTING EVERYONE IN SIGHT FOR HIS DEATH-BRIGADES AND IT'S JUST "ROUTINE?" pantpantpant

The idea of a draft has never entirely disappeared, and is contemplated by Democrats and some military experts.

And as we all know, George Bush is a filthy Democrat!

In the run-up to the war, the New York congressman Charles Rangel argued for a draft on the grounds that the US military was disproportionately made up of poor and black soldiers, and that it was unfair for America's underclass to go off and die in wars.

And he was wrong, silly and insincere.

In recent weeks, there has been growing concern within the defence department about relying too heavily on members of the National Guard and army reservists.

Some 60,000 of the 130,000 US soldiers in Iraq are members of the National Guard or the reserves. An opinion poll last month in the Pentagon-funded Stars and Stripes newspaper, showed 49% threatening not to re-enlist.

The families of reservists have become increasingly vocal in their complaints after the Pentagon's decision to extend duty tours to up to 15 months.

Yeah, so what we need are even more people who don't want to be there.

Thank you, Guardian, for making even the most pedestrian news...interesting.

Posted by Solomon at 9:53 PM on Wednesday, Nov 5, 2003 | Comments (2)
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» Dredging Up Painful Memories? at the blog Weekend Pundit

Solomon of Solomonia fisks Guardian reporter Suzanne Goldenberg about her report on how the Pentagon is preparing to "reinstate the draft". A highly recommended read.... Read More

2 Comments

#1 Miguel | November 10, 2003 6:05 AM

It's incredible the amount of spin and lies a paper can give its readers. Really ugly, I'd say.

#2 Hairsniffer | February 15, 2007 5:38 PM

Cosmic rays and hair gel - is that how Dennis Kucinich gets his hair to look so good. I can't take my eyes off it - it's hypnotic. Great. Powerful.