A friend's 58 y.o. NG engineer father was just called up for Iraq duty...

[AP]

Here's what they're going to have him do: guard ballot boxes during elections.

Ie, he's not going to build things. He's just going to be a sitting duck.

His family is devastated.

He got his two-week training in Iraq, came home for a couple weeks, and is headed back soon.

He says that every time they have an election in Iraq, the winner goes into hiding and that's the last he's seen or heard from. He says the elections they have are a joke. These elected representatives have no relationship or communication with the people who elected them after they've been elected. It's just done so they can say they had a democratic election. They have to hide them so that they don't have to have new elections to replace a bunch of (inevitably) assassinated people.

What they're doing over there isn't about democracy. It's about a facade of democracy so that Bush can get reelected.

Meanwhile, real people -- including 58 year old engineers -- are risking their lives for this fraud.

Now, for all the NYT and Washington Post, and other reporters out there reading this: "was that so hard?" I didn't even go looking for this story. It found me. I don't get paid to do this. It isn't my job to relate the truth to the public. Yet I just learned more about what's really going on in Iraq than you'd get from reading 5 years of the New York Times.

Why even have newspapers and tv news if they can't even do what I just did for free in my leisure time?

[jimshoes]

1. We used to have a cry back in the 60's & 70's

Hell no ...We won't go! Disclaimer: I did not burn my draft card.

[Cha]

6. I'd guess it's a little different in the NG..

it's like a committment but Nobody in there foresaw this..

It was suppose to be all roses and hugs when you go bomb a Country, killing many civilians and ride in with your tanks and take over the oil fields.

Or else I would imagine that over 50% of the murikens wouldn't have wanted this Invasion(now I'm wondering if those polls were even correct).

[AP]

9. Hell, this guy was semi-OK with this when he thought he was going to be...

...building shit over there.

He agrees he signed up for that.

The outrageous thing is that they're making this guy guard ballot boxes.

[jdj]

12. Oh Jesus.

That is not a safe job.

This is disgusting.

Surely to God a 58 year old has some kind of medical condition,or something wrong with his body.

[AP]

13. I bet the test is, if you're healthy enough to engineer, you have to go.

But once you go, they can make you do just about anything that is considered the equivalent.

And I bet there's some ranking of physical difficulty of jobs which says that guarding a ballot box isn't physically demanding.

I bet it's just a big back-door operation that is screwing this guy over.

[jimshoes]

14. I can't imagine that many

folks in their 50's (and I'm one of them although I'm not in the military) wanting to pack it up and ship out for some seriously f'ed up duty in Iraq. I forsee a lot of disobedience in the military if they persist down this road.

[DAGDA56]

2. Goddammit, NOBODY 10 years older than me should...

be put in a combat zone...what are they thinking?

[Ladyhawk]

4. I agree...what are they thinking???? n/t

I don't get it.

[Cha]

3. I'm sorry your friend's Dad as to go back to that

war zone.

bush has opened up the gates of hell over there and the only thing that will have a chance of saving it and reversing the process is if we are able to get Kerry/Edwards installed as our President and Vice President!

[0rganism]

5. "Why even have newspapers and tv news?"

Why, indeed. You don't think the newsmedia is actually interested in reporting current events, do you?

Read Manufacturing Consent by Ed Herman and Noam Chomsky, and you'll know damn well why we have "news"papers and TV "news" that don't even make an attempt at reporting events as they occur.

[Bluebear]

7. 56-yr old woman called to go to Iraq

56-Year-Old Reservist Being Called To Active Duty For First Time

LINCOLN, Neb. -- At a time when most people are looking forward to retirement, Connie Greenwood is preparing for combat. The 56-year-old Greenwood looks less a soldier and more like somebody's grandmother. And she is.

But she also holds the rank of First Sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserves as member of the 308th Transportation Company in Lincoln. Greenwood has been called to active duty for the first time in her 26 years as a reservist.

[Cleopatra2a]

16. I saw that in Kuwait

There were 2 female Colonels over there that had to be at least 50 if not 55. One was the commander of the medical group (active duty) and the other was the commander of the aircraft maintenance group (gaurd). They used to call her Aunt Bea.

[Eloriel]

17. She's not the only one

There was a 57-year old grandmother called up some months ago, may have been here in the Atlanta area. And if these reports have made it to the news, my bet is there are many more.

For this administration to continue to play coy on the subject of the coming draft is a LIE. For anyone to believe that a draft isn't coming is a position that actually defies common sense.

[olddem43]

8. This guy is probably a grandfather, possibly a great-grandfather.

What the hell is wrong with this administration? One of the big reasons for sending 20 year-olds to war used to be that they wouldn't leave lots of dependants to be cared for. I guess they are going the other way on this, figuring that if there are dependants, they won't live for as long or will be emancipated sooner.

[AP]

10. It's the Republican (final) solution for Social Security.

[AP]

11. But at least the Republicans are getting rid of the death tax, 'cause that

might be something this guy can use.

[AP]

15. kick.