I found this story last night about the families of those in the National Guard facing foreclosures by banks, even though there are laws that state banks cannot take these actions. The families have to fight the banks to have the law enforced, and it is unclear from the story if there have been families who have lost homes because they were unaware of their rights.
Here is the story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/27/ap/business/mainD8931R000.shtml
And then, the NYT has this story about recruiting problems:
http://nytimes.com/2005/03/27/nyregion/27recruit.html?hp&ex=1111986000&en=8c1bcba0f0a1cd80&a
mp;ei=5094&partner=homepage
More....
Beyond the obvious implications of trying to sign up recruits during a time of war, stories like the first one I have posted also are having an impact on the militaries recruiting goals.
Other issues? How about the support of torture by this administration? Does this perhaps enter the mind of someone considering the military, and then deciding that torture isn't something they could support? Or how about the lack of medical services for returning vets? I am sure the list could go on and on.
While this administration has stated over and over that they will not reinstate a draft, if recruitment numbers do not at some point improve, what choice will they have? And if situations faced by those now serving, such as the foreclosures, continue to occur, those now serving will be seeking the earliest possible exit, which will further strain the military.
I hope you read both of these stories, the second one is long, but it clearly shows the issues that the military is having (many diaries posted here on Kos). As a personal note: a recruiter called her the other day for my 19 year old daughter, even though I have repeatedly requested they stop calling.
In addition many parents will be filing papers with high schools that will forbid the schools to release any contact information on their children to the military.
While Rummy and others claimed that we would only need a small number of troops in Iraq, the reality is much different. Add to this the fact that the "coalition" shrinks by the day, the story yesterday about Iraqi security firing on a group of protestors, killing at least one, (which is more proof that the Iraqi's are no where near being able to police and secure their own country) and the daily stories of attacks across Iraq, and the there is little doubt that the resources the US will have to provide in Iraq are not going to diminish all that much in the near future.
Will we see a draft in the near future? I am left to think that the reality of the situation brings us closer each day to a draft of some sort.