Military Draft System To Be Tested
Officials Say Selective Service Apparatus Is Being Checked, Not Implemented
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Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson in May. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
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The agency is planning a comprehensive test — not run since 1998 — of its military draft systems, a Selective Service official said. The test itself would not likely occur until 2009.
At the direction of the White House, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson is making it clear he is not advocating the reinstatement of a military draft. He told a news conference that society would benefit from a return to the draft, but a few hours later, after the White House disavowed the remark, Nicholson issued a statement in line with administration policy. He said he strongly supports the all-volunteer military and does not support returning to a draft.
President Bush has repeatedly stated that the all-volunteer army would remain all-volunteer.
"We're kind of like a fire extinguisher. We sit on a shelf," Scott Campbell, the service's director for operations and chief information officer, said. "Unless the president and Congress get together and say, 'Turn the machine on' ... we're still on the shelf."
The administration has for years forcefully opposed bringing back the draft, and the White House said Thursday that policy has not changed and no proposal to reinstate the draft is being considered.
The "readiness exercise" would test the system that randomly chooses draftees by birth date and its network of appeal boards that decide how to deal with conscientious objectors and others who want to delay reporting for duty, Campbell said.
The Selective Service will start planning for the 2009 tests next June or July, although budget cuts could force the agency to cancel them, Campbell said.
President Bush said this week he is considering sending more troops to Iraq and has asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to look into adding more troops to the nearly 1.4 million uniformed personnel on active duty.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, increasing the Army by 40,000 troops would cost as much as $2.6 billion the first year and $4 billion after that. Military officials have said the Army and Marine Corps want to add as many as 35,000 more troops.
Recruiting new forces and retaining current troops is more complicated because of the unpopular war in Iraq. In recent years, the Army has accepted recruits with lower aptitude test scores.
In remarks to reporters, Nicholson recalled his own experience as a company commander in an infantry unit that brought together soldiers of different backgrounds and education levels "in the common purpose of serving."
Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, plans to introduce a bill next year to reinstate the draft. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi has said such a proposal would not be high on the Democratic-led Congress' priority list.
Hearst Newspapers first reported the planned test for a story sent to its subscribers for weekend use.
The military drafted people during the Civil War and both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. Reincorporated in 1980, the Selective Service System maintains a registry of 18-year-old men, but call-ups have not occurred since the Vietnam War.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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See all 161 CommentsIf my children are threatened with death by the draft, I will respond at the utmost of my powers to defend their lives. These clowns better tread carefully, because it ain't just me.
I will do whatever it takes, under heaven over hell, to protect my children. A coward chickenhawk will never give orders to my daughter, or endanger her precious life. I'll go outlaw, change my identity, and live a life of crime in Mexico before I'd allow that.
The rest of us will stay home.
If the fat old men and women who sit around fomenting disharmony, hate and war...if they had to go, if their sons and daughters were guaranteed to go...how many would sit silently cowering the corner, muttering, "er, er' er.
The gutless wonders of...so brave with someone else's life.
You now need ID to get on an airplane, more ID to get a driver's license or change it, proof of residency and all the rest.
Before long the Bush regime will have us on a DNA, electronic implant, iris scan, voice scan or fingerprint ID system- it's coming.
Mexico is no paradise either, people work 11-12 hours a day for about $1.50 an hour down there and thanks to the Bush regime- other countries hate our guts more than ever- it's dangerous now to travel to any foreign country.
The PNAC mob doesn%u2019t dare initiate the draft. You thought they have trouble with Cindy Sheehan. Multiply that by tens of thousands. Considering the poll numbers and the election results, this would be the same as shooting themselves in the foot. But then again, considering the track record of Clueless Leader and the rest of the neocon trash in this preemptive lie called Iraq, it%u2019s a wonder they aren%u2019t all in wheelchairs and on crutches. But then again aren%u2019t a lot of our sons and daughters on crutches, in wheelchairs, blind or dead because of these imperialistic Aholes
Not People!!
But this war is unclear - it's about big oil, big business, an incompetent leader, and lies. I hope with all my heart that the citizens of this country reject any attempt at re-establishing the draft.
Draft Beer...
Not people
Posted by ihatebush1 at 09:59 AM : Dec 22, 2006
QUESTIONS for ihatebush1:
How did you feel about Clinton in late 1993 when he unilaterally (without U.N) sent 70,000 American soldiers to die in the Bosnia-Serbian internal conflict??
Clinton said the troops would be home by Christmas of 1994,,, and we are still there today twelve years later. Not much of an exit strategy there.
How about when Clinton unilaterally bombed The Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.??
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Germany didn't attack Pearl Harbor, so did that make Franklin Roosevelt an evil immoral person for attacking Hitler??
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They are trying to sneak in the draft the way they sneaked in the Iraq war, the way they sneaked in a certified idiot to be the leader of 300 million, the way 911 was a sneak attack -- ALL BECAUSE THE AVERAGE AMERICAN REMAINS SOUND ASLEEP AND UNTHINKING!
So what would it take to get Americans to change their lifestyle? I think that, unless we have skin in the game, we%u2019re not going to change. That%u2019s why I think we NEED the draft. Would people send their first-born son into the Marines if they knew that his mission was to secure a steady supply of fuel for the family%u2019s fleet of SUVs? Maybe just the threat of the draft would be enough to wake (some) people up, and perhaps start a movement that gets people thinking about energy independence. Unfortunately, even the test of the draft system won%u2019t happen until 2009, (conveniently, after the next presidential election).
There are other approaches to waking up America. Go to energybulletin.net and search for The Lottery.
POSTED BY ihatebush1 at 09:59 AM : Dec 22, 2006
QUESTIONS for ihatebush1:
How did you feel about Clinton in late 1993 when he unilaterally (without U.N) sent 70,000 American soldiers to die in the Bosnia-Serbian internal conflict??
Clinton said the troops would be home by Christmas of 1994,,, and we are still there today twelve years later. Not much of an exit strategy there.
How about when Clinton unilaterally bombed The Sudan, Somalia, Chad, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.??
ALSO
ihatebush1
Germany didn't attack Pearl Harbor, so did that make Franklin Roosevelt an evil immoral person for attacking Hitler??
.....................
Bosnia was a peace keeping mission, not an oil out aggression. Slight difference
Ditto.
I served also during that time ('69 - '71). My father and his father severed when they were old enough, the same for me. I was not drafted, but had I been, I would have served with the same honor and respect for this great country.
Bring back the draft.
I didn't spend two decades raising my sons to be your slaves. I especially didn't raise them to die for your benefit. If you want to serve America, do it of your own free will. If you want someone to die for your country, kill your own children.
Drafting people for "public service" is just a politically correct term for slavery. I still believe in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. If no one wants to volunteer to defend America, then America is not worth defending.
Nicely put! LOL
Now about the draft, there should be one! Every able bodied American should go thru Basic Training and then have a choice of Military service or some kind of community/social service for 2 years! Just like most European country have!!!
Back the train up a little...if Bush had not ever been voted into office we would have never invaded Iraq. Therefore the insurgency current would NOT be happening. Saddam hated the Al Qieda. Get your facts correct before spewing junk...but hey like all faithful NEOCONs if the truth does not fit your agenda then make some up that will.
America was sold out to the rich a looooong time ago. Nobody is fighting for anybody's freedom except for the continued freedom of the rich to rip everybody off.
Kerry was right.
If they are going to test it, it's because they are planning to use it. They did it in 98, then along came 2001 and they didn't require a need for it. They "thought" they had enough bodies. Now they have a need for it, especially with a troop build up and 2 possible fronts. The latest I've heard, Reserve/Guard recruitments are going down fast!
Somebody please tell me why the president won't take advice even now??? The Baker- Hamilton report, ignored! The White House did it's own report and Bush did his "listenning meetings". Now supposedly the new Secretary of the Defense will give his assesment to Bush. But Bush wants to wait until after the new year to give a speech on our new way forward while our men and women are still their doing their absolute best to execute Bush's stated policy of stablizing Iraq to bring democracy and freedom so that they will be our friends in the war against terror. Our people in harms way deserve the best that we [America] can give them right now, not later! I'm so mad I could just spit!
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