"all volunteer military" ... as far as "enough goes ... THAT is stupid ... have reservists and NG called up all over the world ...Which is why they don't need the draft yet. A few more steps and you would've had it!

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

When you finally get some "meat" in one of your posts, I promise to take the time to address it.

it has become obvious that these 2 have never served ...

Probably a bit too old for Vietnam ...

Oh yeah, they served for sure, but not the ennemy, they were servicing "GIs" at the cafeteria if you get my drift

It's obvious those 2 never went into battle. Saw the movie "JarHead" ? they probably were waiting all day in camps for the returning fighters to share their story.

"all volunteer military" ... as far as "enough goes ... THAT is stupid ... have reservists and NG called up all over the world ...Which is why they don't need the draft yet. A few more steps and you would've had it!

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

Thaibebop, what you failed to understand is that US military resources are getting low and everything is being diverted to Iraq. The US military is on its last string before calling it quit or having a draft. I wouldn't be surprised if they would, maybe at the end of the presidential term, if they are serious about "fixing" Iraq. This is the only way.

Would Boon Mee and Porkie join ? I seriously doubt it

"all volunteer military" ... as far as "enough goes ... THAT is stupid ... have reservists and NG called up all over the world ...Which is why they don't need the draft yet. A few more steps and you would've had it!

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

Thaibebop, what you failed to understand is that US military resources are getting low and everything is being diverted to Iraq. The US military is on its last string before calling it quit or having a draft. I wouldn't be surprised if they would, maybe at the end of the presidential term, if they are serious about "fixing" Iraq. This is the only way.

Would Boon Mee and Porkie join ? I seriously doubt it

Don't ask, don't tell

"all volunteer military" ... as far as "enough goes ... THAT is stupid ... have reservists and NG called up all over the world ...Which is why they don't need the draft yet. A few more steps and you would've had it!

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

Thaibebop, what you failed to understand is that US military resources are getting low and everything is being diverted to Iraq. The US military is on its last string before calling it quit or having a draft. I wouldn't be surprised if they would, maybe at the end of the presidential term, if they are serious about "fixing" Iraq. This is the only way.

Would Boon Mee and Porkie join ? I seriously doubt it

Don't ask, don't tell

Excellent Post lamphun

And, if you get kidnapped by the freedom-loving 'insurgents', they'll always let you go in the end like that Christian Monitor chick today!

Why is it that I get the feeling that whole business about her kidnapping reeks of bull ?

She gets kidnapped. They air a video of her (with no sound), looking very relaxed and composed. They set ridiculous demands and a dead-line for her execution if the demands aren't met.

Dead-line comes and what do they do ? Extend it. And show another video (with no sound), only this time she's crying and distressed.

Dead-line comes and what do they do ? Extend it again. And another video (without sound again, are these guys morons, or were they deliberately not recording sound ?). In this 3rd video, she is once again calm, cool and collected.

Dead-line passes and what happens ? Nothing. No video, no new demands and no body (obviously).

Suddenly, her kidnappers decide to drop her off outside the Sunni Political Offices and that's that.

In her interviews afterwards, she says she was never mistreated, never hit or threatened, she was allowed to walk around, shower when she wanted and even watch TV (once ?). For a woman who was supposedly under the threat of death for 3 months, she was very composed during those interviews. No tears, no breakdown, hardly any outwards signs of emotion at all.

This is a woman who apparently speaks the language, is very, very familiar with the customs and culture and has spent years in Iraq.

I've got a shiny 5 baht coin here that says it was all a hoax. She was in on it from the beginning, and her kidnappers were probably friends of hers. She either arranged the whole affair, or at least agreed to it, in order to try and get some female prisoners freed.

That is why there was no sound on the videos. They were worried she wouldn't sound convincing enough, and might slip up and say something she shouldn't, which would have blown the whole affair wide open.

I find it hard to believe that dedicated Muslim (what evers, freedom fighters, terrorists, criminals) would hesitate to kill an infidel Christian woman. They don't seem to have a problem with that in other areas of Iraq or the Middle East in general.

So why didn't they kill her after the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dead-lines passed ?

Something stinks about the whole affair. This wouldn't be the first time someone has pulled a stunt like this (in Iraq, during this conflict in fact).

It does seem that if one was being held by the very same folks that regularly cut off the heads of their hostages - and had absolutely nothing to do with one's time - one would be scared sh*tless the whole time and while one might be grateful to be free, one wouldn't be full of praise for those who kidnapped her and killed her interpreter.

"all volunteer military" ... as far as "enough goes ... THAT is stupid ... have reservists and NG called up all over the world ...Which is why they don't need the draft yet. A few more steps and you would've had it!

But I see you guys always skip the real meat in a post and just hide behind simplistic rhetorric

Thaibebop, what you failed to understand is that US military resources are getting low and everything is being diverted to Iraq. The US military is on its last string before calling it quit or having a draft. I wouldn't be surprised if they would, maybe at the end of the presidential term, if they are serious about "fixing" Iraq. This is the only way.

Would Boon Mee and Porkie join ? I seriously doubt it

You are right Butterfly. Resources are streached thin. But I wasn't commenting on the future prospects of a draft being called, just that the draft still exists and has yet to be in-acted.

They will never reinstate the draft as it once was the draft. To re-enact the draft, Congress would be required to make new legislation, and the debate would start a firestorm equal to Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The LACK of a draft is the main thing that keeps the anti-war movement from being effective. Because there's no draft, people in the middle class aren't threatened that they'll be drafted against their will, so they don't go out on the street to protest. Well, fifteen million people did that in March 2003, and G. W. Bush stated he didn't listen to focus groups.

If there is another draft proposed, the males will say that the females must be drafted; the godless will say that priests and ministers must be drafted, and I won't let my twin girls born in 1981 to be drafted until after G. W. Bush's twin girls (also born in Texas in 1981) are drafted and made to serve up front in the combat infantry. And even then, I'd fly back to Texas to take them to Mexico to evade the draft.

No, there won't be an American military draft in our lifetimes, never again. Thank God.

They will never reinstate the draft as it once was the draft. To re-enact the draft, Congress would be required to make new legislation, and the debate would start a firestorm equal to Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The LACK of a draft is the main thing that keeps the anti-war movement from being effective. Because there's no draft, people in the middle class aren't threatened that they'll be drafted against their will, so they don't go out on the street to protest. Well, fifteen million people did that in March 2003, and G. W. Bush stated he didn't listen to focus groups.

If there is another draft proposed, the males will say that the females must be drafted; the godless will say that priests and ministers must be drafted, and I won't let my twin girls born in 1981 to be drafted until after G. W. Bush's twin girls (also born in Texas in 1981) are drafted and made to serve up front in the combat infantry. And even then, I'd fly back to Texas to take them to Mexico to evade the draft. I agree with you on that. I will not enter a war I don't believe in, draft or no. That doesn't mean that I will never fight for my country however. I think Bush should be more like daddy anyway and go there and fight. People of today are too far withdrawn from what war really is and don't understand why one should or shouldn't be fought. It's just movies to most people. So , I think our Commander and Chief should see it first hand.

No, there won't be an American military draft in our lifetimes, never again. Thank God.

I think you are wrong in saying this because I think the conflict itself will be what determines a darft and how successful it would be. No, people today would not want to be drafted for the war in Iraq, however a different war, maybe. An invansion of America would be a good example.