I have read, in recent weeks, about a House resolution calling for forced military service for men aged 18-22 who reside in the United States. If the source of my info. is accurate, these sources include various articles I have read and Indymedia and other linked websites, and this bill does indeed call for all males 18-22 RESIDING in the US to be forced into the military then this poses an interesting situation. Those who can afford to send their sons/brothers to Canada, Mexico or any other nation will have nothing to worry about. They will not be "draftdodgers". As they will no longer be residing in the US they will not be covered by the forced military conscription. On the other hand the poor will not be able to afford this and their sons will have to enter the military.

On a more draconian level, however, lets think about what the implacations on international scholars will be. Imagine you are a 21 year old man from Peru who is studying at a university or art school in the US. As you are studying here you are RESIDING here. Thus you can either perform six months of military service in the US army or you can leave the US.

This will cause many young international artists and scholars to leave the US. Am I the only person who sees sinister motives at work here?

What motives would a government have to encourage international artistis and scholars, even if it is only those between 18 and 22, to leave the country?

Could it be an effort to get young international critics to leave the nation so that they will not point out the manner in which the US government is attempting to brainwash its youth?

Could it be an effort to get international students to leave in the hopes that college campuses will be made completely devoid of young males who would lead/participate in anti-war/ ant-government policy protests?

Could it be an effort to encourage internationalartists and scholars to leave in the hopes that the international community will not come to know the propaganda campaigns being unleashed on the US public?

Is this new draft bill designed to both brainwash the youth through military service (Where they will be taught to obey their leaders, taught to obey obey obey!!!) and to drive out those young men from other countries who would otherwise still stay here (if the draft bill only drafted US citizens)and be critical of such a policy thus keeping dissention alive on US campuses?

Should we all just move to Canada and try to take a poor 18 to 22 year old male with us?

The author of this piece will certainly take his younger brother out of this country. But alas, we are lucky in that we have access to a small amount of capital that can be used to undertake such an endevor.