A Military Draft is surely coming, even though it is BushCo's worst nightmare. That's obvious by their silence on the matter in the face of tremendous troop shortages. They know the public wouldn't stand for wars of convenience if everyone's kids faced the draft. In fact the public is getting sick of the current arrangement too.
It will probably be left to the Democrats to call it, just to mop up after Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.
From my layman's view they seem to be playing at war. "Realpolitik" ...expecting to nab the Iraqi oil fields for their Texas friends and incidentally base a permanent division or two into Iraq to neutralize the Middle East. Just that easy. As if. It's just too bad for thousands of our grieving U.S. families, our wounded troops, and several hundred thousand dead and maimed Iraqis that Bush and his NeoCon cronies were so ignorant of history and the real world.
We're still over there only because they can't figure out how to hold onto the oil fields. But they'll go down trying, and drag the rest of us with them. Both Junior and Cheney seem stubborn that way.
And apparently they're only now learning the difference between play acting with a big PR budget including Junior making an ass of himself on that aircraft carrier, and the real thing, as in Mess-o-potamia (aptly named by the Daily Show). It's been an expensive history lesson for these dopes.
Of course in a necessary war we'd be fighting for something besides Exxon and make-work for the millionaires who own Blackwater, CACI, and Haliburton, Inc. And all those plump dandies and fair weather patriots currently in D.C. would be cowering under some corporate rock... but no doubt still be trying to make some money out of all the action.
Iraq isn't necessary unless you're worried about controlling oil. Instead of thinking our way out of our energy crisis these thieves naturally want to steal what isn't theirs. So the brains at BushCo are terrified of a military draft. They don't know much about bravery, but somewhere behind their piggy little eyes they know a real democracy will never put up with gratuitous, shameful wars of convenience like Iraq, and attacking Iran.
And that's the "inconvenient truth" for these crooks.
Bill Bucolo has trained and worked in newspapers, public relations and magazine publishing since the 60's. During the Viet Nam War he was active in the Southern Student Organizing Committee and Students for a Democratic Society, and one of the publishers of the Florida Free Press which eventually prevailed in a 1st Amendment case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Since November 2000 He has been active in the fight for election system reform and against conservative excesses and writes frequently on these issues.
hopefully will never come. And I am so tired from those who want to use our young for their own political posturing. Leave our young alone. If you want to be drafted, be my guest
by
Mark Sashine (53 articles, 19 quicklinks, 250 diaries, 3574 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 6:52:11 PM
You may be missing my point. There are some things we don't get to choose. We don't get to choose to NOT have a military force. But we CAN choose whether that force is a professional army always on call, or a citizens' army which must be drafted with public permission.
Generally an army of draftees will only be available for a legitmate purpose which has broad concensus. Vietnam was a chosen war like Iraq... and overwhelming public opposition to the Vietnam war taught the Pentagon that wars of choice are off the table with an army of draftees.
That's why they built up a "professional" army of volunteers during the 80's and 90's... to fight wars without the inconvenience of explaining to the public why their kids are being shot up.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 7:19:37 PM
It's about Israel. It's about smashing Israel's perceived "enemies" in the Mid-East before the U.S. Empire declines to the point, and before Russia and China et al. rise to the point, where Israel will be forced to start negotiating in good faith, for a just peace with its neighbors.
Of course the fanatical, bloodthirsty Jewish supremacists now running Israel and the U.S. will sooner bring on a global nuclear holocaust before they start treating their neighbors like human beings.
And this is the crux of the problem the world now faces.
Throwing a bone to U.S. oil companies, i.e., stealing whatever Iraqi oil revenue they can at this point, is merely an opportunistic after-thought; much like going through the victim's purse and taking whatever cash and valuables you can find, after you've already raped and murdered her.
by
jpsmith123 (3 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 286 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 7:35:02 PM
I think government planners expected to keep a force in the Iraqi area which they felt would discourage attacks on Israel among other things, but that's only icing on the cake. The "cake" is Iraqi oil, which they can control. These GOP piggies really believe controlling more oil than we already do is in the national interest more than solving the energy problem without oil, and without mideast conflict.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 7:54:01 PM
Sorry, but Bush's Mid-East rampage is not about oil.
It wasn't oil company executives celebrating the 9/11 attack in Liberty Park.
It wasn't oil company executives that forged the Niger uranium documents, or ran a propaganda shop out of the Pentagon.
It wasn't oil company executives that got caught driving a van with traces of explosives, and subsequently failed lie detector tests, and were let go by the U.S. government.
It's not the names of oil company executives plastered all over the PNAC documents.
It's not oil company executives that control all the major media outlets in the U.S.
What we're seeing now is the final push for control of the Mid-East by the delusional Zionists that run the U.S. government. And that is the only explanation that fits the facts.
by
jpsmith123 (3 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 286 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 8:25:57 PM
I prefer to think both aspects played a role. You'll never convince me these crackers from Texas (BushCo) cared as much about Israel as they did about all that oil. Not going to happen.
As for supporting Israel there is an interesting twist. The "NeoCons" you are so concerned about were mostly bright left wing supporters of Israel at New School in NYC in the 70's who migrated to the more conservative setting at Tuft's Fletcher School of Diplomacy in the 80's for the big bucks, put up by US security interests who wanted help thinking about the mid East, and the likes of Richard Mellon-Scaif, who just liked to hang out with arch conservatives and feel needed -he wasn't really, but he was/is rich as hell. There, in Medford, Mass, with the encouragement of conservatives like Rumsfeld and Cheney (called crazies by the Reagan staffers back then and needed an intelligent looking cover for their goofiness) they spawned PNAC and other think-tanky things, and much of what passed for a world view in the early days of BushCo's first term.
As for the Jewish intellectuals it was really all about protecting 5 million Israelis from 500 million Arabs and co-opting our conservatives, but it looks like our conservatives came out on top of that... co-opting the intellectuals. That was one surprise.
The other was how inept the Arabs were going to turn out, or how stupid the Conservative wing of the Israelis (Ariel Sharon and Bebe Netanyahu) or our own conservatives for that matter, would turn out to be.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 9:05:27 PM
"I prefer to think both aspects played a role. You'll never convince me these crackers from Texas (BushCo) cared as much about Israel as they did about all that oil. Not going to happen."
LOL! What are Bush et al. going to do, drink the oil? Bush sold his soul. The only thing keeping him in power is the Zionist lobby. Bush and Cheney are drunk on power. In any case, with the power they've amassed, they can almost just simply take all the money they want from the U.S. treasury, no questions asked. They don't have to fight trillion dollar wars to make a paltry few billions of dollars for themselves and friends. They can help themselves anytime they want in many different ways.
"As for the Jewish intellectuals it was really all about protecting 5 million Israelis from 500 million Arabs"
Yeah, they're really "intellectuals". LOL! If the Jews in Israel were not stealing Arab land and brutally subjugating the native Arab population, they wouldn't have to worry about that, now would they? The long-suffering Arabs are the rightfully aggreived party here. And BTW, the one time that an Israeli ruler (Yitzak Rabin) came to his senses and appeared to start negotiating in good faith, his own people murdered him. Real peace loving people, those.
"and co-opting our conservatives, but it looks like our conservatives came out on top of that... co-opting the intellectuals. That was one surprise."
ROTFL! Our so-called "conservatives" merely know which side of the bread has the butter. Please don't mistake shameless, traitorous opportunism for anything else.
by
jpsmith123 (3 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 286 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 10:38:14 PM
Drop the Jew-hating crap. Trying to fit Israel into this Iraq War puzzle won't work no matter how hard you try to cram it into a space that doesn't fit. And I continue to shake my head over the continued alarm bell about an impending draft. People have been clanging that alarm for the past 5 years, and it still comes nowhere near fruition.
by
Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 579 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 11:27:39 PM
I agree re absurd hate speech, but a discussion of the draft is healthy and should continue. Peace loving Americans should understand why we need a citizens' army instead of a professional military class, and the likes of Blackwater, etc.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 11:52:32 PM
Sorry, but the truth is the truth, even if you don't personally like it.
This whole thing is being driven by Jewish extremists.
If any more proof were needed, it came a month ago, when AIPAC demanded Pelosi give Bush a blank check for war with Iran, which she promptly did. Of course, for Israel's apologists, there will never be enough proof.
In fact, I'll bet you still insist that the attack on the USS Liberty was an "accident", right?
by
jpsmith123 (3 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 286 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 7:30:24 AM
"I applaud the House of Representatives for soundly rejecting the "Reinstate the Draft" bill, sponsored by Congressman Rangel in the House and Senator Hollings in the Senate. If this bill were presented to me, I would veto it. America's all-volunteer military is the best in the world, and reinstating the draft would be bad policy. We have increased pay and benefits to ensure that our troops have the resources they need to fight and win the war on terror. I want every American to understand that, as long as I am President, there will be no draft."
Most of that was a lie, or at least wishful thinking - "the best in the world" e.g. But that last sentence may hold true. How much longer will we have to put up with the decider ?
Hats off to Bill for engaging in the discussion as he has, by the way.
I personally don't see the distinction between a partially drafted military and an all volunteer military. You'll never see a 100% drafted military as there are always enough young people who are more than eager to join the military. So how can a draft install democracy in the military or in the USA ? I don't see the connection here and I can't believe BushCo is afraid of the draft. The game is so far down the line, re-instating the draft at this point won't change much in the way of the pResident's approval ratings (as if I gave a hoot where those numbers stand). The "real democracy" you've mentioned, Bill, doesn't exist, never existed and will never exist in the United States of America Inc. Draft or no draft, the amount of democracy in the USA will not be effected. The elite will still have their ways of keeping their children home, safe and dry.....just as they always have had.
"a real democracy will never put up with gratuitous, shameful wars of convenience like Iraq, and attacking Iran."
- You may be right with that, but as I said, this ain't no real democracy. Never was and never will be.
And that's the "inconvenient truth" for all of us.
by
Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 1:03:55 AM
About every legitimate of warmongering extreme right-wing Zionist foreign policy is not only dishonest, intellectually flawed but it is outright slander. Hell, do you ever read Haaretz or the Israeli press? There is more criticism of Likudnik fanatics than you get anywhere in the US of A in a year.
Look at the brutal scourging given to poor old Jimmy Carter over his book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. The man who was once widely regarded as the best friend that Israel ever had was the victim of a coordinated attack by AIPAC, the thugs at the AEI and that loathsome ass clown Alan Dershowitz who has had ZERO credibility since he attached himself to the O.J. Simpson circus like a barnacle on the bottom of a garbage barge.
It is about goddamned time that these scurrilous attacks of Anti-Semitism are halted - public figures and writers should just do as journalist Robert Fisk did and start threatening to sue the bastards.
Go sell your knee jerk Anti-Semite accusations elsewhere, we are all stocked up on bullshit here.
Just my two cents
EE
by
Ed Encho (8 articles, 18 quicklinks, 56 diaries, 394 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 8:19:30 AM
and this is where Bill is right. Blackwater and the likes = Gestapo ala USA. The percentage of civilian contract workers in war zones has drastically increased. Or so I've read. This directly changes the face of the so-called 'military' and with it, the reactions to the misuse of the 'military'.
by
Tony Forest (7 articles, 18 quicklinks, 166 diaries, 1429 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 9:15:37 AM
Blackwater is the biggest menace in America today, a well equipped army of trained killers for hire and the strongest argument for a well armed militia that I have yet to see in my life. Even more terrifying is that it is owned by a fanatical dominionist of the same sort who want to see the Constitution swapped out for the Malleus Malificarum.
We need to do whatever we can to ensure that this growing treat is dismantled and brought to heel legally before it is turned against the citizenry and our cities have to be turned into mini-Staligrads to wage an insurgency against these enemies to America.
Just my two cents
EE
by
Ed Encho (8 articles, 18 quicklinks, 56 diaries, 394 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 10:29:06 AM
Answering comments- The real nightmare for Bush & Co...
Maybe the real worst nightmare for Bush & Company is that the American people finally understand how badly they have been had by these bumblers and crooks. That's my own dream for BushCo, and what I work on every day.
Regarding the draft... When I say I favor a draft it isn't because I want it. It is because that is the best of our bad choices: a professional military or a Citizen's Army answerable to the people who's family members must serve without exemption. Either way a military force is inevitable.
Unfortunately the choice for that is up to our timid and bovine Democratic congress, which can't even muster the courage to speak out against the proliferation of firearms after the VT murders for fear of being buried under millions of dollars in smear ads courtesy of the NRA, so I don't expect any miracles out of them when most of my fellow liberal Democrats automatically oppose compulsory service of any kind.
Regarding some reader comments on oil & Israel... Although I detest their heavy handed treatment of Palestinians I also detest the rampant anti-Semitism of the Arabs. I admire the culture and history of the Jewish people and am proud of their role in U.S. history. Israel has become a Western economic and cultural oasis a part of the world where most people still tell the time of day by a Mullah's prayers. And it is noteworthy that even when they could have easily done so, Israel never tried to take oil land from their neighbors.
Of course it would be even more admirable if we could say the same about their neighbors' water.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 5:33:45 PM
Take your "Jew hating" wailing elsewhere because in the event that you haven't noticed that knee jerk slanderous crap is being exposed right now and once placed under scrutiny it is as transparently fraudulent as the 'Compassionate Conservative' brand that the Bushreich used in the early days of their seizure of the government.
You people really overreached when you went after Jimmy Carter and exposed yourselves as the McCarthyist fascists that you and your ilk always have been. Get used to dwindling influence, the AIPAC espionage trial is coming up and even if your pocket media lackeys don't cover it the bloggers will!
EE
by
Ed Encho (8 articles, 18 quicklinks, 56 diaries, 394 comments)
on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 5:30:32 PM
Do you really think that a Mullah (Imam) sets the times of the prayers? What other delusions do you have about the Islamic faith? I suppose you also think that ahmedjinedad said the he wanted Isreal wiped off the map? Put that in your search box and find the true translation of what he said, and he wasn't even the originator of that saying, his late boss of Iran was, and there was no outcry then.
What he said was "the zionist regime in Jerusalem will fade from history just as the communist bolsheviks did in the USSR. Look it up!
by
ibrahim turner (25 articles, 31 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 177 comments)
on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 2:26:22 PM
Dear OldNick007, perhaps you are misreading my reference to Mullahs and timekeeping. I don't say Mullahs choose the time of prayer. I say that in the Middle East historically, and still in large part today, the passage of day time in the Muslim world is commonly marked by the times of prayer, as set forth in the Qur'an. So for example, if one has an appointment in the morning, it is far likelier to be "shortly after morning prayers," than it is to be at 9:40 AM in much of the Muslim world.
I say this based on readings of Professor Bernard Lewis in his excellent, if somewhat prejudicial, study of Western impact in the Middle East in "What Went Wrong."
This folkway is still prevalent now where fundamentalists have the most influence, but is slowly changing to the ways of the outside world as the Middle East is increasingly forced to deal with the rest of the world on the world's terms.
As for what Ahmedjinedad purportedly said about Israel, I am more inclined to believe what you say than what Washington or Jerusalem claims he said. And I am not persuaded that Iran is necessarily a threat to Israel or the rest of the West.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 11:31:31 PM
I'm not crying about a thing, eencho. I am pointing out an absolute fact - that there is a whole lot of Jew-hating within the lefty ranks. We all know the standard positions - Israel can do no right, the Palestinians can do no wrong, everybody knows who controls the media and the world money supply, evrybody knows who has the most powerful lobby, nudge nudge wink wink, yada yada yada. Garbage.
Alan Dershowitz was absolutely right in seeking a debate with Jimmy Carter. If Carter was in the right, shouldn't he have been able to kick Dershowitz's butt in a debate? But no. Carter took the cowardly way out.
I have found that it's actually easier to find Holocaust deniers on the lefty websites than it is on the righty ones. Put that in your bong and smoke it.
by
Scott (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 579 comments)
on Monday, April 23, 2007 at 9:40:11 PM
Damail, I agree that there is far too much ignorance and predjudice against Israel among my friends in the Left. Israel has been under constant assault since it was formed after WWII, and in a sense has had to fight for it's life since birth. No wonder they are so tough, and all the more reason to admire them as the one real democracy in that part of the world.
I would quickly add however that Israel seems to continue to make terrible mistakes in the way it relates to refugees, and it's neighbors.
Like right wingers in America, Ariel Sharon, Bebe Netanyahu have been disasters for their country.
by
Bill Bucolo (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 12:03:16 AM
Knee Jerk Accusations Do More Harm To Jews Than Good
The conflation between 'Jew Haters' and 'Anti-Semites' is bogus in too many instances and is driven by a crackerjack political pressure appartus in AIPAC and the Israel Lobby and chief mouthpiece and neo-McCarthyist Dershowitz who in their desire to allow Israel to brutalize Palestine, use the Holocaust as rationale for ongoing slaughter and stifle all criticism are actually not doing Israel, or non Zionist Jews any favors. Advocating for 'A Clean Break' through extrmist right-wing Likudnik policies is actually making the world a far more dangerous place for Israel.
God forbid if the neocon lunatics are able to get their precious strike on Iran because Likud fanatics and their American enablers like the nest of fascist vipers in the AEI are stifling discussion here in America by using intimidation, yellow journalism and slander.
The gates of Hell will swing wide open and the wrath of the world will be directed at both Israel and America for allowing a lunatic fringe to take control of the foreign policies of two of the world's most powerful militaries.
The stifling of legitimate criticism of Israel or the untenable stance of non-neutrality in the region by the Bushreich and the Likud extremists under the vicious slurs of 'Anti-Semite' and 'Jew Hater' only serve to throw gasoline on an already rampaging inferno that could very soon engulf the entire world if the neocons get their way.
Choose your words carefully.
That's all I'm saying
EE
by
Ed Encho (8 articles, 18 quicklinks, 56 diaries, 394 comments)
on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 5:05:00 AM
