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The Draft and U.S. Wars in Iran and Around the World

 

Will there be a draft?  How is it going to work?   What can we do about it?   Why Worry About the Draft? 

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22 June 2025 / Edward Hasbrouck / Resisters.info - The draft is a threat to everyone concerned about peace — not just young men. The more soldiers the generals have, the more soldiers and civilians they can kill — and without a draft, the U.S. military is eventually going to run short of “volunteer” soldiers for its endless wars around the world!

Some people think that only young men can resist the draft. But that’s not true at all. The people most likely to face the draft first doctors, nurses, and other health care workers — men and women up to age 45 in 57 different occupations.

Some people think they would be safe from the draft because they are college students or plan to seek conscientious objector (CO) status. But student deferments have been abolished, most people who oppose wars don’t qualify for CO status, and many valid CO claims will be denied.

Politicians know the draft would produce widespread dissent and resistance. The higher the domestic costs of the draft look, the more likely politicians are to seek an end to the wars. Fear of the draft will encourage them to bring the troops home before the recruiting crisis gets any worse.

Since the resumption of draft registration in 1980, the U.S. has invaded Panama, Grenada, Afghanistan, and Iraq; used drones and missiles to attack Yemen; bombed Iran; and attacked other countries through U.S.-armed proxies. But with a draft supplying even more soldiers, each of those wars could have been even bloodier.

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Christian Activists and Veterans Start 40-Day Fast for Gaza

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Anti-war activists demonstrate outside the United Nations headquarters on Thursday, May 22, 2025, in Manhattan, New York. (RNS photo/Fiona André)May 23, 2025 / Fiona André  / Word&Way - NEW YORK (RNS) — On Thursday (May 22), dozens of religious activists and war veterans gathered outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan to launch a 40-day fast protesting the humanitarian aid blockade in Gaza.

The fast, initiated by Veterans for Peace, an anti-war organization, and a dozen Christian organizations, intends to raise awareness of the famine looming over Gaza. Participants plan to consume less than 250 calories a day, mirroring the average daily nutrient intake of residents in Gaza.

Members of Christian organizations like Pax Christi, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), the Mennonite Palestine Israel network, and the Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church joined Veterans for Peace in the fast.

In total, 249 people across the country plan to fast and demand the UN enable humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip and that the U.S. stop sending weapons to Israel, according to a Christians for Ceasefire press release.

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Saving Paradise: The Fight to End Militarization in Hawai‘i

With 6 percent of its land occupied by military bases, Hawai‘i is our most densely militarized state. But young activists are rejecting recruiting efforts and military influence.

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April 17, 2024 / Saliha Bayrak / The Nation - Pete Doktor was lost. Living in Southern California, with the end of high school approaching, he wanted to be a musician, but had no idea how he would pay for music school. His father, a World War II veteran with a wealth of stories on fighting fascism, told him the military was offering money for college.

Doktor had no intention of joining right away, but decided to take a qualification exam. The recruiters started pressuring him, asking if he was too “scared” to enlist and telling him that experience as an army medic would help him later find work. The idea of being able to find such stability and fulfill his “kūleana”—the Hawaiian word for responsibility—was eventually enough to persuade him.

But when Doktor left three years later and started searching for jobs, employers told him the basic first aid training he received was not nearly enough to find work in medicine. He felt misled. “[The military] has an arsenal of things to use to trap people wherever they’re most vulnerable or desperate,” he said.

Motivated by this dissolution, he instead sought to reconnect with his mother’s side and teach English in Okinawa, once a sovereign kingdom in the Pacific that became a military colony of Japan. His next move was to Hawai‘i, where he would learn demilitarization from the Kānaka Maoli, or Native Hawaiians, and “fight the global military empire.” For over 10 years, he worked to ensure that the most vulnerable of his students did not become prey to military recruiters as he once was.

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