THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SUNDAY'S
HELICOPTER ATTACK IN IRAQ

From the Progressive:

Chopper Down

The downing of the U.S. helicopter in Iraq on Sunday makes painfully clear that there's a guerrilla war raging against the U.S. occupation.

The guerrillas are increasingly sophisticated and brazen, and they seem to have a lot of support, at least in some areas.

How else could you interpret the pictures of Iraqis cheering over the downed chopper, or jumping up and down with joy after a U.S. military vehicle was blown up?

It looked like a scene out of Somalia or the West Bank.

Click here.

And while all this is going on, there are rumors of conscription on the horizon. From Salon.com:

Oiling up the draft machine?

The community draft boards that became notorious for sending reluctant young men off to Vietnam have languished since the early 1970s, their membership ebbing and their purpose all but lost when the draft was ended. But a few weeks ago, on an obscure federal Web site devoted to the war on terrorism, the Bush administration quietly began a public campaign to bring the draft boards back to life.

"Serve Your Community and the Nation," the announcement urges. "If a military draft becomes necessary, approximately 2,000 Local and Appeal Boards throughout America would decide which young men ... receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from military service."

Local draft board volunteers, meanwhile, report that at training sessions last summer, they were unexpectedly asked to recommend people to fill some of the estimated 16 percent of board seats that are vacant nationwide.

Especially for those who were of age to fight in the Vietnam War, it is an ominous flashback of a message. Divisive military actions are ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. News accounts daily detail how the U.S. is stretched too thin there to be effective. And tensions are high with Syria and Iran and on the Korean Peninsula, with some in or close to the Bush White House suggesting that military action may someday be necessary in those spots, too.

Click here for more (I don't usually post from Salon because they have an annoying "day pass" procedure to wade through before being able to actually read the article, but I'm changing my policy because this possible draft is a pretty big deal--so just deal with it; it's fairly easy).

Thanks to Tom Tomorrow for the Salon link.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$