Uncategorised

: Rick jahnkow; Uncategorised; 30 January 2025; Hits: 75

Draft Registration Expansion Fails in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act

From Draft NOtices, January-March 2025

— Rick Jahnkow

A proposal by the Selective Service System to begin automatic registration of young men for any future military draft almost made it into the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representative had previously included the proposal in their versions of the NDAA, but language for it was deleted by the joint conference committee that met to produce a final version of Act. Selective Service was counting on automatic registration to reverse the growing rate of young men who are not complying with the legal requirement to register themselves.

There was also a proposal in the NDAA, approved by the U.S. Senate, that would have expanded draft registration to include young women. It was also rejected by the joint conference committee; however, it's not the first time such a proposal has been attached to the annual NDAA and, thus, it could very well come up again in the future.

The Critical Importance of School System Involvement

From Draft NOtices, January-March 2025

Book review: They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s Classrooms.

— Isidro Ortiz, PhD

Written by acclaimed investigative journalist Mike Hixenbaugh, this book is worth an earnest read because of its focus, timeliness and documentation. It will be of interest to a diverse audience, especially those concerned with public schools and their roles and impact on youth development in society, and how elements of the Right have managed to achieve political power.

COMD, Project YANO and other organizations engaged in counter-recruitment and anti-militarism work have long recognized public schools as sites of ideological and political contestation. Fueled by this understanding, they have struggled to influence policies and practices like the involuntary placement of students in JROTC. Regrettably, as this book makes clear, they have not been the only ones to recognize the role of schools in shaping the country’s political climate.

Dismantling U.S. Militarism Must be a Priority for Climate Justice Advocacy

From Draft NOtices, January-March 2025

— Lauren Reyna Morales

Americans are subjected to patriotic propaganda in nearly every facet of our institutionalized culture. From the movies, to pledging allegiance, to the nightly “news,” to the classroom and everywhere in between, we are conditioned to buy into the greatest-democracy-on-earth schtick. It is no wonder there’s an abundance of stunningly ignorant beliefs about U.S. militarism and imperialism. Beliefs that forsake a global perspective, ecological health and human rights in favor of dogmatic fealty to the beloved State narrative.

In an August 2024 publication in The Hill, columnist Amrik Chattha expressed a view so distressing that it even surprised me. Chattha wants the U.S. military to rebrand itself as a super-awesome-leading-fighter against the climate crisis. He contends that since young people are motivated to wage war against the onslaught of climate catastrophe, such a rebranding would encourage a new generation to consider careers in militarism. Chattha supposes that the U.S. military has a greater capacity to combat environmental challenges than any other organizational entity.