In a 85-13 vote today, the US Senate passed its $602 billion military spending bill, setting the stage for what will likely be an intense committee battle to reconcile it with the already passed House version. Unlike the House version, which removed the proposal, the Senate’s version included a provision requiring women to register for the military draft.
As with the House version, this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) hides a good chunk of the year’s war funding to give the appearance of a spending “cut.” The bill actually only covers the first four months of 2017’s war spending, with an assumption that an “emergency” bill will be sought after the election.
The Senate bill left a lot of questions unanswered, as fighting within the Republican majority blocked the debate and votes on virtually all the controversial matters. This centered on Sen. Mike Lee (R – UT) seeking debate on the indefinite detention of US citizens.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) insisted the debate on Lee’s issue couldn’t be allowed, and Lee threatened to block everything else if the detentions weren’t up for debate. This was resolved by Sen. John McCain (R – AZ) angrily condemning Lee and no debates happening. The Senate appeared not to care all that much, and passed the bill by a huge margin anyhow.
Back when I was in college and the Vietnam War was hot, I found it strangely unjust that women could vote for a pro-war candidate, but didn’t have to worry about fighting. They would be safe at home in America planning their weddings and complaining about draft dodgers.
If there were a universal draft with NO exceptions except for extreme cases of people in wheelchairs and residents of mental hospitals, there would be no war.
Some women’s priorities is not planning their weddings. In fairness to women of all stripes, some minority of women are much more interested in dressing up as soldiers and going to war. Try to be more tolerant of others.
It’s o.k. to prefer combat boots over high heels.
Female cannon fodder. What a career choice.
So a-hole what are you doing to stop all these liberal progressive wars of Obama and his failed pentagon…nothing…just whine and complain about cannon fodder. Loser.
A universal draft with NO exemptions would stop all the wars quickly. Right now it is mostly poor white trash and ghetto guys with no other options in life who make up the volunteer army. They die. Everybody else goes on with their lives.
Exactly, Roddy. In human history, civilized societies – and even most barbarian ones – Women were kept away from battlefields for a vital reason .. Women were (and still are) the progenitors/nurturers of the next generation. Sending women into battle has been unthinkable in most societies, all the way through modern times.
Those societies who draft and send women into battle are furthest away from civilized, and care not for the continuation of their societies .. thus, those societies fall and disappear.
The current Selective Service needs to be terminated, not continued. We’ve had (and still have) an all volunteer force and the Pentagon wants to keep it that way. This system’s too expensive to maintain and not use .. and if women want to serve, they may .. by simply volunteering. Drafting them would keep those who are already mothers away from their children, which would be most harmful to those children.
Roddy is an idiot who hasn’t a clue about people.
Since we don’t even have a draft in effect currently I find it very suspicious that a draft for women would come up and be passed.
Who is behind this and why?
Draft Chelsea Clinton.
The Bush girls…Cheeey’s grand-daugters…
Amy Carter – if you want to keep going back.
Amy Carter is 48…a bit old for the draft…but I get your point.
I know – so are the Bush girls too old for the draft….
So do I, Cal. You ask who’s behind this insanity. Well, Oligarchs such as George Soros, as well as Marxist Bolshevik feminists, and Agenda 21 fanatics are definitely behind it. These are the scumbags who are pushing Congress to add drafting women into the military.
Yes, Cal, this is an extremely suspicious, sinister plan, since we don’t even have a draft in effect currently .. We didn’t have it in effect since around 1976, a year after the last US forces were driven out of Vietnam.
Eileen…our 9 year long war in Vietnam ended in 1973..at that point we turned the war over to the Army of South Vietnam. Nixon had with drawn all US forced by 1973. From 1973 to 1975 the ARVN tried to fight the North Vietnamse..but failed and the south collapsed when the North made a strong offensive in 1975. After 9 years of war the US had no will to return to stop the North’s invasion. So we let them fall. The US technically was not driven out. That is not an accurate description of what took place. Our military should never have been in SV in the first place..the American people supported the war in the early stages. We fought hard..won all the battles yet due to rules of engagement that limited us we could not fully defeat a 3rd world nation. It was a stalemate. Both Johnson and Nixon failed us. Now we are once again fighting wars that cannot be won. And the American people are asleep. At least with the draft there was a large opposition, not without one today nobody cares. so we get Perpetual wars that cost billions when our nation falls apart at home.
I do know that Charlie Rangel was keeping it in Congress, for some absurd double-speak reason.
The current selective service should be terminated. We have an all volunteer force and the Pentagon wants to keep it that way. SS is expensive to keep and not use. If women want to serve they can…by volunteering.
The volunteer army of today is made up of people who have no better options in life than cannon fodder. They are the inhabitants of the inner cities and the rural poor. Ghetto blacks and poor white trash, the bottom of the barrel in society. They can be told just about anything and believe it. The Pentagon loves having them. They never think on their own or question orders. Ideal employees for Perpetual War.
Roddy you are full of BS…I am from a strong middle class family…raised two sons..both served in the military…my youngest now in the NAVY…2nd enlistment. They are NOT inner city nor rural poor, nor white trash. He thinks for himself. And many of his friends the same. You sir are a despicable SOB who thinks he is a white elitist, but in fact you know nothing about these people. They work hard to protect your sorry ass…if anything you have to separate them from the Failed so called liberal peace president Obama and Pentagon that creates these Perpetual Wars from those who serve honorably…Finally You speak of the Vietnam war, were you ever out protesting those wars or did you sit on your sorry ass and let someone else do it. You whine about Perpetual Wars today..ok Are you out in the streets protesting,,,writing or speaking to your congressmen and Senators who wont even authorize these wars. Nope I bet you just sit and make asinine comments about people you know nothing about.
I protested the war in Vietnam. I refused to go. Nobody in Vietnam was ever a threat to me or America. You sound like a mindless ‘Murican” example of cannon fodder. Your support of Endless War shows me that you are the despicable SOB.
February 22, 2016 The Age of Authoritarianism: Government of the Politicians, by the Military, for the Corporations By John W. Whitehead
History may show that from this point forward, we will have left behind any semblance of constitutional government and entered into a militaristic state where all citizens are suspects and security trumps freedom.
https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2016/02/24/the-age-of-authoritarianism/#.VtCLNZ3D-XY