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Draft to return?

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  • 21-11-2003 9:22am
    #1
    Hobbes
    Registered Users Posts: 21,264 ✭✭✭✭


    http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/draft-board-booklet.htm

    I actually saw a post about it a few days ago on another web forum (but linked to a dead link) and I couldn't find any news about it so I thought it was just someone getting all tinfoily.

    But there it is. Would selective service go down well in the US? I know the US has a new law that if you join the military you can get citizenship (they must of been watching starship troopers) but I'm curious if US nationals would actually accept the draft?


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    #2
    Captain Trips
    Closed Accounts Posts: 944 ✭✭✭Captain Trips


    I'm curious if US nationals would actually accept the draft?
    Would selective service go down well in the US?

    Go to http://www.sss.gov

    There is a common misconception amongst many US citizens I have met that the draft is gone. It never went away, is called the Selective Service System, and not registering is punishable by $250,000 fine and/or 5 years in prison.

    Would you like to know more? :)


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    #3
    SkepticOne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,718 ✭✭✭SkepticOne


    Originally posted by Hobbes
    I know the US has a new law that if you join the military you can get citizenship (they must of been watching starship troopers) but I'm curious if US nationals would actually accept the draft?
    I think the rule is that if you currently have the right to work in the US and you join the army you can apply for citizenship after three years rather than five.


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    #4
    Hobbes
    Registered Users Posts: 21,264 ✭✭✭✭Hobbes


    Selective service may still be around, however the Draft isn't (Stopped in 1973). The links (and accompanying news storys) seem to suggest that the draft may be returning soon in the US.


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    #5
    sovtek
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,485 ✭✭✭sovtek


    I wonder how well the European Union would cooperate with the US on returning it's draft dodging citizens.
    As they used to say "...If I get drafted then I'm a Mexican".


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    #6
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,411 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Who needs the draft when you have the Army Reserve and the National Guard? A friend of mine joined the National Guard when he moved to SF during the dotcom boom and is being sent to west Baghdad in the new year.


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    #7
    Hobbes
    Registered Users Posts: 21,264 ✭✭✭✭Hobbes


    Originally posted by Victor
    Who needs the draft when you have the Army Reserve and the National Guard? A friend of mine joined the National Guard when he moved to SF during the dotcom boom and is being sent to west Baghdad in the new year.

    Because you run out of people eventually.


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    #8
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,411 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by Hobbes
    Because you run out of people eventually.
    Sorry that comment was negative and sarcastic.

    There is a strong chance American numbers will have dropped hugely by the summer, so Bush can have his victory celebrations in time for the election.

    My friend isn't exactly enthusiatic on going, on both moral and practical grounds.


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    #9
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Originally posted by Victor
    Sorry that comment was negative and sarcastic.

    There is a strong chance American numbers will have dropped hugely by the summer, so Bush can have his victory celebrations in time for the election.

    My friend isn't exactly enthusiatic on going, on both moral and practical grounds.

    Assuming your friend is still an Irish citizen, would he not be able to bail back to Ireland instead of going to war with the Americans? I'm sure there'd be some sort of non-extraditionary loophole that he could avail of.

    Unless of course he wants to go back to America...



    I like your optimism though - In a post about bringing back the draft you talk about how American numbers will drop in the summer.


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    #10
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,411 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by utility_
    Assuming your friend is still an Irish citizen, would he not be able to bail back to Ireland instead of going to war with the Americans? I'm sure there'd be some sort of non-extraditionary loophole that he could avail of.
    He had to drop his Irish passport to become an officer (couldn't be having people sworn to a foreign nation as officers now could we? :rolleyes: - we don't swear to our citizenship). However, with a phone call, he could walk into any Irish Embassy and have a passport there and then (he has connections). The problem is he could never go back to the USA (and girlfriend) without facing charges.

    The real thing making him go is the tax free income against current occassional employment.


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    #11
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Originally posted by Victor
    He had to drop his Irish passport to become an officer (couldn't be having people sworn to a foreign nation as officers now could we? :rolleyes: - we don't swear to our citizenship). However, with a phone call, he could walk into any Irish Embassy and have a passport there and then (he has connections). The problem is he could never go back to the USA (and girlfriend) without facing charges.

    The real thing making him go is the tax free income against current occassional employment.

    He's more likely to come back without a leg than he is to die. That's enough to make me not want to go to Iraq any time soon...


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    #12
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,411 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Originally posted by utility_
    He's more likely to come back without a leg than he is to die.
    Believe me he understands, especially seeing as he (a second lieutenant) will be the one expected to go out front in the event of any hassle.

    Being surrounded by people like this doesn't encourage him http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=126418


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