Draft Watch: Increasing Desperation

Melanie, over at Just a Bump in the Beltway, has a roundup of articles about the folk now being forced back into uniform to go to Iraq:



* A 43-year-old single mom who completed her service twelve years ago has been called up. She's training with a man in his 70s. He's an officer who somehow didn't fill out his discharge paperwork when he retired, so he's fair game.



* Other middle-aged members of the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve) are facing physical challenges, from failing eyesight to bad knees and backs, but the Army is determined: “We don’t give up on them. We haven’t failed to qualify a single person,” said Staff Sgt. Kenneth Calloway, a 29-year-old Army Reserve instructor. “We just give each individual a lot of time — and lots of ammunition.”



* A man who served honorably in both the Army and Marines, and has no remaining service obligation, was told he would be treated as a deserter if he didn't report for duty. A letter from his chiropractor detailing his back injury was ignored; other back-door draftees with similar physical ailments are receiving the same treatment. A retired colonel, Andrew Bacevich, isn't surprised. "The Individual Ready Reserve -- that title is a misnomer. They're not ready," Bacevich said. "It's the equivalent of me walking out here on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, and taking the first 5,000 people I meet and saying 'you're now in the military.' "



Follow the link for all three stories. The draft will be here sooner rather than later. If you are between the ages of 18 and 35, start thinking very seriously about your options. If you have kids, grandkids, nephews or nieces aged 18 to 35, sit them down and talk to them about this--and if you have friends or family in Canada, keep in touch. You may need them.