Panetta: Women May Be Included in Future Draft

[Purveyor]

Females may be included in the Selective Service and qualify for a potential draft should one be ordered by the president, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.

The U.S. military’s civilian leader lamented that he didn’t know who ran the Selective Service, but whoever does will “have to exercise some judgment based on what we just did,” Panetta said at a Pentagon press conference Thursday.

On Thursday, Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, lifted the official ban on women serving in combat roles, removing gender barriers from jobs in the military.

Congress established the U.S. Selective Service as an independent federal agency in 1940, one year ahead of the start of World War II. Presidents had drafted men in previous wars, but this was the first time it was established in peace time. In America’s history, the military has never drafted a woman or ordered her to register for the Selective Service.

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http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/01/25/panetta-women-may-be-included-in-future-draft.html?comp=7000023317828&rank=1

[liberal_at_heart]

1. so women will do what men have been doing for decades

either serve if that is what they chose to do or resist if they have a moral objection. I don't see a problem with it. With the freedom comes the responsibility. But I really don't see the relevance until the draft is an actual issue again.

[DURHAM D]

2. Panetta got ahead of himself. nt

[TwilightGardener]

4. How so?

[DURHAM D]

6. He doesn't know how the Selective Service works?

Better to just not answer the question.

[sadbear]

3. This might be a good way to ensure something like Iraq never happens again.

[liberal_at_heart]

5. damn right

[moobu2]

13. That's the first thought that came to me when I read the head line. n/t

[B Calm]

7. I figured this would happen.

[DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav]

8. Many years ago I knew this was the direction the US was going. Which is good because this

is what American woman wanted. I'm a dual citizen & personally didn't want to see my daughters or sons on the front line so we made sure we gave birth (and adopted) in my home country rather than my late husbands (the US.) If American woman voted for and wish their daughters be drafted, that should be their choice. For those of us who don't want our daughters drafted, there are other options. It's called compromise.

[Oilwellian]

9. WTF?

Most American women I know don't want to see their daughters OR sons drafted. Really, WTF?

[liberal_at_heart]

10. it is the draft policy that is wrong not the freedom to serve

I am glad my daughter is free to join the military and go to war if she wants. I am also glad she has the freedom to resist if she is drafted and has a moral objection to war. She could go to jail for this, but sometimes it is worth going to jail to stand up for your rights. My daughter would gladly go to jail so that she may have the freedom to choose whether she wants to serve in war or not. She would also gladly go to jail so that she may have the freedom to marry another woman is she so chooses. She is bisexual. She would also go to jail so that she may have the freedom to have an abortion if the need were ever to arise. She would also go to jail so that she may have the freedom to drink a beer or smoke marijuana. I would also gladly go to jail so that she and I for that matter have all of these freedoms.

[okaawhatever]

11. Draft shouldn't even be discussed until the Violence against Women Act is passed. It's enough

of a crime to deny a woman who has been raped an abortion in a volunteer Army. Now, if the draft is reinstated they're saying you don't have a choice about being in the Army and you don't have a choice about being raped and you're not going to have a choice about having an abortion. F you misogynst jerks. Now, I know that there isn't a draft or registration yet, but we need to think about the polarization of views in Congress and it's effect on women. We have the dems/progressives saying women have the opportunity for combat, and the gotp saying we don't get an abortion and other myriad laws they're trying to impose on us. There couldn't be more daylight between the two positions.
Also the Violence against women act just says that abortions can be covered under the gov't insurance plan, but during war time or for remote stations, the military hospital may be all that's available. And since you can't go into a military hospital and pay for a service, you're effectively cut off from options.
In summary and in anger, let me just say the sooner women learn how to pilot drones and operate belt driven weapons the better. We will give the whole cold, dead hand meme new meaning.
thank you for letting me vent

[HiPointDem]

12. I would welcome a draft, because maybe it would make people get off their asses when it hit home.

So long as all classes were equally subject, no exceptions.

[Purveyor]

19. +1 eom

[peace13]

14. Thus endeth the endless wars.

As it should be! I think they should register for the Selective service so that all families can feel the pressure of war. Maybe then they will stand up and stop these illegal, immoral wars!

[newfie11]

15. The draft better never be part of this

I am happy women have the right to go into combat if they choose BUT draft is another story.

I am old enough to remember who got drafted. It was the guys that didn't have rich parents that could pull strings to keep them out. It was the rich parents like the Bush's that put dear ole George in a cushy safe military spot. It was the kids that could afford to go to college and be deferred.

The rich will ALWAYS find a way to keep their kids out of harms way while sending others to die in their stupid wars.

Don't ever think bringing back the draft will stop war.

[redqueen]

16. Pass the fucking ERA. nt

[MadrasT]

17. +1

[DURHAM D]

18. + 1 Million

[fadedrose]

20. It seems like a good idea...

It's a way to get away (or escape) from home, get education or specialized training, medical/dental care, go through basic training, and grow up - and when the time comes, get married - not as a way to get the things you couldn't have had otherwise - but to get married to add to the pluses your service provided, not as a substitute for the lack of them.

Wish I'd have been drafted. But back then, we were still in the guy opens a car door for a lady days.