Geoff alerted me to [this story](http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1228331,00.html
) in The Guardian.
According to the story, the US is preparing to reinstate conscription, more commonly known as the draft in the local lingo. I didn’t need yet another reason to be enthusiastic not to be an American citizen, but thanks, anyway, Mr. Bush.
The article states that conscription could be reintroduced as early as June of next year. Unlike its previous incarnation, it will not be possible to dodge it on educational grounds, nor can you expect to make a shrewd exit via Canada. The devious bastards have already plugged those holes, signing the smart border declaration with the neighbours to the north.
If you are a young American man under the age of 30, I would start looking for a new country in which to settle. Otherwise, before you know it, you could find yourself standing in some far-flung country with your dick in one hand and an M16 in the other, fighting an unsanctioned war in Bush’s barmy army.
Many members of the professional services have clearly had enough of this country’s state-sponsored terrorism and are not re-enlisting. This fascistic government’s cynical response is to instead send its nation’s youth to kill or be killed. My advice: don’t hang around until it happens. Conscientious objection is unlikely to hold much sway in a society without conscience.
You missed a big point, they will also be drafting women for the first time.
-geoff
I see nothing in the Guardian article about conscripting women. I know a bill has been proposed to reintroduce national service and that bill specifically includes women, but that’s not the same thing as conscription.
Do you have a source for the female conscription aspect?
The conscription of women is dealt with in the text of the bill; you can look up the bill numbers given in the article at http://www.congress.gov.
Interestingly, the bills have been in committe for over a year, so it isn’t 100% clear whether they have died in committe (a common fate) or are just being held until after the election.