By Dahr Jamail

The flight from Jordan feels all too normal…until we arrive over Baghdad International Airport. The nose of the plane dips, the left wing drops and the downward spiral begins-dropping us 4,000 feet per minute into the inferno that is occupied Iraq.

Rather than an in-flight magazine, a lonely card is available to read in the seat pocket. It begins with:

“For those of you who have not traveled with us before, you need to be aware that, for your security and safety, and not for your comfort, we do a spiral decent into Baghdad. This is carried out to avoid any risk from anti-aircraft missiles or small arms fire…”

Note: The STARC Armory is in Johnston, Iowa and is the Headquarters of the Iowa National Guard and is also known as Iowa’s Pentagon Building.

Thirty five people showed up for the STARC Armory Election Day, “Vote With Your Feet” Anti-War Rally and Nonviolent Direct Action. After a few short talks and cheers by the Radical Cheer Leaders, eleven demonstrators, nine adult and two high school students walled hand in hand across the road to the main gate of the Armory.

The Armory gate was closed and large cement road blockers were placed behind the gate. Protesters used a step ladder to climb over the fence, stepped on the cement road blockers onto Armory property. They were greeted by National Guard security people and Polk Co Sheriffs officers. All were hand cuffed and taken to police vans in the parking lot.

By Angela Garcia

Will there be a draft or not?

The short and simple answer, yes. It already exists. The draft is a permanent part of the US constitution. The only thing that is required for it to be active is for Congress to authorize induction and allocate money. The Military Selective Service Act will never expire. Induction ended after Vietnam but in 1980, Jimmy Carter revitalized the SSS (Selective Service System)¹ after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

During Bush’s campaign, he promised that there would be no new draft. He doesn’t need one. The Army’s “stop loss orders,” also known as the “back door draft,” prohibits a soldier from retiring or quitting when they complete their required assignment. The all-volunteer army is under massive distress. Donald Rumsfeld stated, “The United States has “inadequate total numbers” of troops.”²

For the first time since 1994, the Army National Guard has not met their recruiting goals³. They are now trying to motivate soldiers to re-enlist in the combat zones by offering them tax-free incentives and bonus pay. They also are transferring Air Force soldiers into the Army.⁴

Why are recruiters having a tough time? It is harder for them to lie. They are finding it challenging to deceive young potential recruits. Young people are not so gullible. The recruiter will down play war but would-be-enlistees are not stupid; they are seeing through all of the recruiter’s deception.

In the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 3, nonviolent resisters continued the on-going campaign of resistance to war at Alliant Tech in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Four people were arrested for crossing onto Alliant’s property to seek an end to the making of weapons by Alliant. The four included members of Anathoth Community Farm in Luck, Wisconsin and of the Winona Catholic Worker community in Winona, Minnesota.