Because the troops are already overextended, enlistment quotas are not being met, and Bush is relying on National Guard and Reserve troops to fight nearly half the war, without sufficient equipment or training. Many of those National Guard and Reserve troops are not re-enlisting voluntarily. "The Army National Guard will fall 5,000 soldiers short of its recruiting goal this year…" (AP 9-24-04) The Pentagon admitted there are "inadequate total numbers of U.S. troops" and "a lack of long-term endurance." (NY Times 9-24-04) Army enlistments are now 30% below quota and Army Reserves fell 45% short. (WSJ 10-20-04)

"Recruiters are already saying it would be easier to find $100 bills on the sidewalk outside a homeless shelter than to fill their enlistment quotas, even with the huge bonuses now being paid," said Col. David H. Hackworth (USA Ret.), senior military columnist for DefenseWatch magazine. (read  the article here)

Didn’t Bush deny he’d reinstate the draft?

Yes, he did. But with a "backdoor draft" already holding reservists past their committment, and no end in sight, many don’t believe him. A recent poll showed that 51% of young adults believe that Bush will bring back the draft, while only 7% believed Kerry would. Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan recently commented, "Please forgive the students of this country for not believing what you are saying. Not one thing, not one thing about this war that has been told to the American people or that has been told to these college students has been true. …The Pentagon says we need more troops, and this President cannot get them from the international community. There is only one option left. Let us be honest with the American people." (Congressional Record, 10-13-04, view the speech here with Quicktime)

But didn’t Congress just vote down the draft?

Yes, in a completely meaningless vote. Even the sponsor of the bill did not vote for it. This had exactly the same effect as taking no vote at all. If the Bush administration is given another four years, there is nothing legally stopping them from asking a GOP-led congress after the election to pass a simple resolution reinstituting the draft. This vote was rushed through solely to undercut the rapidly growing movement against the draft and opposition to Bush’s re-election.

What is morale like?

"‘Make no mistake, the level of morale for most soldiers that I've seen has hit rock bottom,’ said … an officer from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq." (Christian Science Monitor 7-7-03)

Chronic complaints of a lack of supplies necessary to protect our troops led to the Oct. 13, 2004 refusal of some 18 troops to go on what they said was a "suicide mission," and many other less-reported acts of similar resistance by our GIs and reservists.

Army National Guard 1^st Lt. Paul Rieckhoff explains the situation:

How are the wounded vets being taken care of?

ABC’s Primetime Live on Oct. 14, 2004, showed maimed US vets from Iraq being abandoned: living in cars, threatened with the loss of their homes, being hounded to pay back the army re-enlistment bonus, etc. Once under the spotlight, a Pentagon general said this was "intolerable," yet they did nothing while these disabled vets were abandoned for months. Milwaukee now has homeless vets from the latest Iraq war, joining those from the first Gulf War and Vietnam.

Is this an issue we should be talking about?