Military Draft:The Way Out Of War Mongering Policies.

Photographs by Gilbert Mercier
All Rights Reserved.

America has been at war for the past 8 years. We have currently 2 wars ( 3 if you count Pakistan) going on, yet most Americans have not been asked for any personal sacrifice to this war effort.

Americans seem to be a lot more interested in mindless distractions such as American Idols or sports as opposed to what truly matter: Why are we fighting so many conflicts with such a heavy toll in human life and at an unbearable cost for a nation in financial crisis?

George W. Bush called himself a "war president " as many times as possible to justify countless quasi dictatorial actions to govern in secrecy, spy on the American people & "legally " torture prisoners detained in US custody. Yet, the very same George W. Bush, and his VP Dick Cheney, when given the opportunity to do their duty & serve their country in Vietnam acted like the cowards they truly are. Bush's father used his political influence to make sure that George junior would not be deployed in Vietnam. Dick Cheney was a 5 times draft dodger.

It seems pretty obvious that the Vietnam war would have dragged on for a lot longer without the draft. It certainly motivated the anti-war movement in America at the time.

Very few countries still have a military draft; among them Russia & Israel. France had a draft up until the 90's. I served in the French military, and my experience made me realized that the military was even worse than what I thought before being drafted. The experience turned me into a peace activist for life. Most armies operate the very same way: At first the hierarchy brakes your will power to make sure you will never put orders into question no matter how absurd and/or criminal they might be.

Obama is yet another "war president " assuming the role of Commander in Chief with absolutely no personal military experience. In football, Obama would be the very definition of an armchair quarterback. Yet, it does not seem to bother anyone in America. Americans are under the false and very dangerous impression that wars should be handled by professionals military men. This is the best way to have endless conflicts for one simple reason: Military men only understand military solutions and certainly not political ones.

It seems paradoxical, but I think that the only way to break with the vicious logic of permanent warfare is to institute a mandatory draft. Unlike the one during the Vietnam-era it should be across board ( for men & women) with no exception. We could have 2 options: A two years tour of duty if serving in the military or three years if serving in civilian capacities.

Last week the Senate voted for an astronomical supplemental bill ( money we currently don't have) to fund the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan. The amount was $ 91.3 Billion, only 3 Senators opposed the bill ( Coburn, Feingold, Sanders), 86 Senators approved the bill with enthusiasm. What I can guarantee, if we had a draft and their sons & daughters could be send to war, is that it's likely that the bill would not have passed.

GOP Implosion-Cheney: Powell Left the Republican Party.

Dick Cheney was on " Face the Nation" on Sunday. He said:" I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican". This remark followed Colin Powell's statement that the GOP should be moving towards the center. Rush Limbaugh is urging Powell to become a Democrat. Meet Dick & Rush's GOP:The sinking ship.

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Secretary Clinton Says Cheney Not a ''Reliable Source''.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took aim on Wednesday at former Vice President Dick Cheney, telling lawmakers she did not view him as a ''particularly reliable source'' on issues of torture.......

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Cheney: " Harsh Interrogation Techniques Were a Success".

In an interview with Fox, today, Dick Cheney not only defended the torture authorized by the controversial memos, but even asked that the results of the interrogations files be released to prove his point....

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Palin administration is shrouded in loyalty and secrecy.

May be she doesn't understand the" Bush doctrine" too well, but it appears that she has being running the state of Alaska very much like Bush and Cheney the White House. She gives value to loyalty over competence and likes to operate in secrecy.

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Tres Amigos Episode 2: From an Undisclosed Location

INT. SHELTER. DAY OR NIGHT.
W is in bed reading his bible.

W

We have to know!

Rummy is at the periscope.

RUMMY

We'll die up there!

W

Revelation! People disappearing! Rummy says that the whole city

of Washington is gone! It looks like a dessert! We have to

know what happened up there! We could have missed the Rapture!

RUMMY

A nuclear war is what happened!

Dick sits in front of the computer screen. One hand on the mouse the other out of sight.

DICK

My God W! When did you start believing your own lies?
W

Look, fellas, just read Matthew 23 and 24 and you'll see what I mean.

Dick, still at the computer, closes his eyes briefly. A steady POUNDING sound, from under the desk.

W (CONT'D)

Rummy! Read the chapter! That's an executive order!

Rummy looks through the periscope.

RUMMY

I don't have a Bible!
DICK

Borrow mine. I'll look it up online when I'm finished, er, trying to

make contact.

Rummy get's the bible from Dick's night stand. He carries it toward the window staring at it like he would a foreigner. He opens it. The pages have been cut out to hide a hand gun. He turns a page, the handgun. He looks at Dick. Dick sits in front of the computer. POUNDING NOISES. He grunts happily. Rummy looks at W. W looks at his bible. He runs his finger over a line of text. Looks puzzled, runs the finger over the same line, GROANS. Rummy looks back at the Bible. Then out the window. Instead of the beach scene, Rummy shakes hands with Saddam Hussein.

RUMMY

Jesus!

W

Amen!

Rummy shakes his head, and looks back at the window. A badly burnt child being carried away on a gurney.

RUMMY

Holy Crap!
W

Frightening huh? Better than a Steven King...

Dick, nearing orgasm, let's out a GROAN.

W (CONT'D)

Good for you Dick! I've never seen you this passionate about

something that didn't make money.

Rummy watches the window in horror. A city in flames. A mother crying and cradling a baby in her arms. A crude likeness of him, one of Dick, and one of W, draped in American flags and being burned by and angry mob. Rummy walks to bed, throwing the bible back on Dick's night stand.

W (CONT'D)

I know. It's a hard thing to get through.

W replaces his bible on the night stand.

W (CONT'D)

Just try again tomorrow and we'll get through it together.

Black.
P S:
To read Episode 1 click on Tres Amigos Episode 1 in the recommended links. The authors are currently looking for filmmakers to make Tres Amigos a visual reality. A good format for it would be flash animation, but we are open to any ideas and input. It could even be adapted for theater. Please contact us on this site.

Cheney sees nothing stopping Palin from doing job.

While in Rome, Cheney said that he loved Palin's speech at the convention. Cheney did not do any favor to McCain's campaign by giving his seal of approval to Palin as McCain and Palin are trying to distance themselves from Bush and Cheney as much as possible. Bush's name was not even mentioned at the RNC and Cheney is even less popular than Bush.

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Tres Amigos: Can you say Nuclear? A play by Nathan Huntley and Gilbert Mercier

ON THE SCREEN A NEWS WIRE CAPTION ROLLS...DECEMBER 20 2013.

REPORTER (V.O)

The POTUS faces a growing global crisis.

News footage of people burning American FLAGS and pictures of the POTUS in Syria and Iran, other news reels of RIOTING over food shortages.

REPORTER (V.O)

The rhetoric is heating up, with Syria, Iran and North Korea on one

side, the US and Israel on the other. Today, in a joint statement

at the UN, Russia & China vow to respond to any attack against their

Asian and Middle Eastern allies.

A LAP TOP is opened. A card key is inserted, a RED BUTTON emerges from the keypad. A finger wearing a GOLD RING with a W set in diamonds, hesitates a moment, then pushes the RED BUTTON down.

REPORTER (V.O.)

With tensions this high, a single

shot could start WORLD WAR 3.....

The transmission is interrupted, on the screen we SEE the film melting and burning, we HEAR explosions and slowly..
FADE TO BLACK:

EXT.
From the darkness emerges a COCKROACH, it disappears into a DRAIN PIPE. We TRACK the bug down a title roll on the screen.
DECEMBER 21Th 2014

INT. UNDERGROUND ATOMIC SHELTER (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)
In the bunker war room, DICK (Cheney) sits at a computer desk. RUMMY (Rumsfeld) looks through a periscope. W (Bush) stands, his back to them, looking out of a FAKE WINDOW displaying an image of a TROPICAL BEACH at sunset. The tension is palpable. The power blinks on and off throughout.

W

Number two, any contact?

DICK

Standing by.

W

Don, anything from the surface?

CUT TO:

EXT. RUMMY POV (PERISCOPE) OF A SURREAL DESERT SCENE

RUMMY (O.S.)

It's still a desert, Sir.

CUT TO:

INT. ATOMIC SHELTER

W

Dick, are you on line?

DICK

Still trying 43.

W

Rummy, what's the radiation level?

We PAN to see a DIAL: low, guarded, elevated, high and severe. The hand is on SEVERE.

RUMMY

High Sir!

W

Jesus! How long will it last?

RUMMY

I don't know... could be six days,

six weeks..I doubt six months.

W

DON, do you think I did the right

thing?...I'm a peace man. Damage to

human life bothers me. I...

The power goes out. A few emergency lights stay on but the room is near dark. Dick starts up a dim staircase.

DICK

So much for that. Anyone for lunch?

Post Scriptum: This is the episode one of a full play originally written for the screen. The authors ( Mercier/Huntley) are currently looking for interested filmmakers to do an animation ( flash or other) version of it. We are open to any suggestions, including an adaptation for theatre. Please contact us on this blog or at Nathanhuntley@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks.

Is the war in Georgia a neo-con election ploy?

A lot of allegations are floating around, some say that Dick Cheney helped manufactured the current conflict between Russia & Georgia to play one more time the GOP's favorite fear and paranoia tactic, right before the elections and turn the tide in favor of McCain. What's next, the old Reagan's grizzly bear of the Soviet era? With McCain in the White House, it could be the cold war all over again.

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