Lynn C. Woolsey: “I am sad to say that the military draft is alive and well in the United States of America. But, this time, it is the…”

“I am sad to say that the military draft is alive and well in the United States of America. But, this time, it is the Bush administration's shameful behind-the-scenes version: a ``backdoor draft,'' specifically targeting soldiers who have already served and poor young men and women from rural areas who enlisted because the military helped them pay for a college education they would not have been able to get otherwise. Since the war in Iraq began, the Bush administration has done everything in its power to cajole and deceive soldiers into serving longer than they want or longer than they agreed to. Depending on members of the Army Reserve and National Guard, who almost always serve the country only here at home in the United States, to serve in Iraq was just the tip of the iceberg. This administration has also started the shameful policy of issuing ``stop loss'' orders, which allowed the military to break its contractual obligations to a service member in order to keep that soldier in the military for longer than he or she has agreed.”