This week’s news features a British government report that says her majesty’s intelligence service grossly misinterpreted and overstated the threat posed to Middle Eastern stability by Saddam Hussein. There were, they now admit, no weapons of mass destruction and what the analysts thought was evidence of WMDs, well that was just wrong. The report goes on to say it was not Prime Minister Tony Blair’s fault – his incompetent intelligence advisors misled him. The Brits made the kind of mistakes anyone could make, if “anyone” is defined as the Central Intelligence Agency. Last week, a report by the U.S. Senate said our intelligence analysts made essentially the same mistakes. Hmm, go figure. As was the case with Mr. Blair, the Senate reports no undue pressure on the intelligence people from the White House. If only the analysts had read the data correctly, there would have been no Iraq invasion, George Bush and Mr. Blair would have had stood their armies down and the reservists would have gone home to their families.
It’s a real shame, that’s what it is. What are the chances that two of the most powerful men on Earth would both get the same kind of bad information, information that would cause the mistaken invasion of a sovereign nation?
On the other hand, Messrs. Bush and Blair had this information, they didn’t know it was bad at the time, what else could they have done? Well OK, there were UN weapons inspectors scouring every inch of Iraq, who said they couldn’t find any WMDs. There was that former U.S. weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, going to all those college campuses, giving speeches about how Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and yes, there was the UN Security Council, refusing to approve the invasion because the U.S. and the UK had not made a persuasive case.
What’s done is done that bell cannot be unrung. Fifteen thousand Iraqis and almost 1,000 Americans are dead and the U.S. Army is staying in Iraq. The Bush spin doctors say we might be out by 2006, but the military officers say it will more likely be 2010 or 2015.
All that means when the election is over, no matter who wins, there’s going to be a draft. The military is stretched thin already and needs tens of thousands of warm bodies for relief, more than recruiters can ever hope to find. In June, the Senate approved adding 20,000 soldiers to the Army. In May, the House of Representatives approved an additional 30,000 soldiers and 9,000 marines. You, or you son or – yes – your daughter may soon be involuntarily conscripted into the armed forces. No college deferments this time, there’ll be no taking the Dick Cheney-Paul Wolfowitz way out. When the draft is declared, they start with people who turn 20 in that year. Nineteen eighty-five could be your unlucky number.
You may choose to declare yourself a conscientious objector, which the Selective Service System defines as “one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral or religious principles.”
Once a draftee has been called to military service he (or she) can claim conscientious objector status and receive a hearing before a local draft board. The objector can call three witnesses to testify to his (or her) beliefs and present a written statement.
You should be advised, however, that if you wait until you receive your draft notice to begin establishing your conscientious objector credentials – then there’s a hot and sand-choked tent waiting for you in central Iraq.
So don’t wait. If you’re draft bait, get yourself down to the local peace and justice center this weekend. Get your name on some lists. Organize a vigil or peace march or speakout or campus teach-in for the fall semester.
Start from a selfish place if you must, but know that by taking proactive steps to remain in civilian clothes with your arms and legs attached, you’ll also be sending a message that there’s another American who wants life, not death. You’ll be starving the war machine. After two weeks of reports that the most powerful men in the world will ignore the obvious when it suits their purpose, take some action to restore sanity to the world.
Duty Now for the Future
This week’s news features a British government report that says her majesty’s intelligence service grossly misinterpreted and overstated the threat posed to Middle Eastern stability by Saddam Hussein. There were, they now admit, no weapons of mass destruction and what the analysts thought was evidence of WMDs, well that was just wrong. The report goes on to say it was not Prime Minister Tony Blair’s fault – his incompetent intelligence advisors misled him. The Brits made the kind of mistakes anyone could make, if “anyone” is defined as the Central Intelligence Agency. Last week, a report by the U.S. Senate said our intelligence analysts made essentially the same mistakes. Hmm, go figure. As was the case with Mr. Blair, the Senate reports no undue pressure on the intelligence people from the White House. If only the analysts had read the data correctly, there would have been no Iraq invasion, George Bush and Mr. Blair would have had stood their armies down and the reservists would have gone home to their families.
It’s a real shame, that’s what it is. What are the chances that two of the most powerful men on Earth would both get the same kind of bad information, information that would cause the mistaken invasion of a sovereign nation?
On the other hand, Messrs. Bush and Blair had this information, they didn’t know it was bad at the time, what else could they have done? Well OK, there were UN weapons inspectors scouring every inch of Iraq, who said they couldn’t find any WMDs. There was that former U.S. weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, going to all those college campuses, giving speeches about how Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction and yes, there was the UN Security Council, refusing to approve the invasion because the U.S. and the UK had not made a persuasive case.
What’s done is done that bell cannot be unrung. Fifteen thousand Iraqis and almost 1,000 Americans are dead and the U.S. Army is staying in Iraq. The Bush spin doctors say we might be out by 2006, but the military officers say it will more likely be 2010 or 2015.
All that means when the election is over, no matter who wins, there’s going to be a draft. The military is stretched thin already and needs tens of thousands of warm bodies for relief, more than recruiters can ever hope to find. In June, the Senate approved adding 20,000 soldiers to the Army. In May, the House of Representatives approved an additional 30,000 soldiers and 9,000 marines. You, or you son or – yes – your daughter may soon be involuntarily conscripted into the armed forces. No college deferments this time, there’ll be no taking the Dick Cheney-Paul Wolfowitz way out. When the draft is declared, they start with people who turn 20 in that year. Nineteen eighty-five could be your unlucky number.
You may choose to declare yourself a conscientious objector, which the Selective Service System defines as “one who is opposed to serving in the armed forces and/or bearing arms on the grounds of moral or religious principles.”
Once a draftee has been called to military service he (or she) can claim conscientious objector status and receive a hearing before a local draft board. The objector can call three witnesses to testify to his (or her) beliefs and present a written statement.
You should be advised, however, that if you wait until you receive your draft notice to begin establishing your conscientious objector credentials – then there’s a hot and sand-choked tent waiting for you in central Iraq.
So don’t wait. If you’re draft bait, get yourself down to the local peace and justice center this weekend. Get your name on some lists. Organize a vigil or peace march or speakout or campus teach-in for the fall semester.
Start from a selfish place if you must, but know that by taking proactive steps to remain in civilian clothes with your arms and legs attached, you’ll also be sending a message that there’s another American who wants life, not death. You’ll be starving the war machine. After two weeks of reports that the most powerful men in the world will ignore the obvious when it suits their purpose, take some action to restore sanity to the world.
(c) Mark Floegel, 2004