It may eventually come to conscription, but reinstating the draft will be *the last resort*, a course of action open only to a Democratic Administration, which, unlike a Republican one, would have enough support among workers and intellectuals to resume it if all other options become exhausted.
Before resorting to conscription, however, Washington will gradually relinquish its military hold on Europe and East Asia. As a matter of fact, the Bush Team has already put the empire on the path toward diminishing its spheres of influence in Europe and East Asia:
<blockquote>President Bush on Monday announced plans to bring home up to 70,000 troops from Europe and Asia within a decade. . . .
At the Pentagon, defense officials said a "significant portion" of the 60,000 to 70,000 troops and 100,000 family members and civilian personnel in question would come out of Europe, including about 30,000 troops in two heavy divisions in Germany.
They said moves would not begin until at least 2006 after decisions are made on new domestic base closings, and that a brigade of Army Stryker armored vehicles with 5,000 troops would be deployed to Germany as part of the U.S. shift away from ponderous forces toward mobility.
The United States now has about 115,000 troops stationed in Europe and another 97,000 in the Asia-Pacific region. A senior State Department official said troop reductions in Asia would be "not very dramatic" but gave no details. (Adam Entous, "U.S. to Remove Up to 70,000 Troops from Europe, Asia," August 16, 2004)</blockquote>
If the Iraqi resistance continues to take its toll on the foreign occupiers, Washington may have to withdraw almost all of its troops from Europe and East Asia to redeploy them in Iraq.
Moreover, Washington may lose its political and economic hold on the Western Hemisphere.
As long as the occupation of Iraq continues, oil prices will remain high and Washington will have to refrain from interfering in the Venezuelan affairs too much lest its oil supply get disrupted, giving Hugo Chávez Frías and his fellow Bolivarians enough time to consolidate their already considerable gains and make new social conquests in Venezuela. Caracas may even be able to take more steps toward creating a foundation for Los Estados Unidos de Latinoamérica:
<blockquote>In addition to domestic transformations the Chavez government has been working for change in international affairs. It keeps alive the Bolivar dream of a "United States of Latin America" despite Washington's 200-year old opposition. (The U.S. prefers to dominate smaller, weaker states.)
Chavez has been a vocal opponent of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, preferring to focus efforts on strengthening ties within South America. Venezuela recently gained partner status in Mercosur, the common market of Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay and Paraguay. A few weeks ago Chavez announced plans to buy eight new oil tankers from long-slumping shipyards near Buenos Aires, Argentina. Venezuela and Argentina have begun the creation of a pan South American energy company, Petrosur. Brazil's state-owned firm, Petrobas, seems interested in cooperating.
Colombia and Venezuela plan to build a gas pipeline that will ship natural gas between the two countries. Venezuela also provides Caribbean countries with low-cost oil and Chavez is trying to create PetroCaribe, which would boost energy integration in the region.
A South American public television network is in the works and the Venezuelan government has discussed the idea of a South American Development bank. (Yves Engler, "Significance of Chavez's Victory for Latin America," August 30, 2004, <http://www.lefthook.org/Politics/Engler083004.html>)</blockquote>
Iraqis are not only fighting for themselves and American workers, but also for workers in Europe, East Asia, and Latin America. -- Yoshie
* Critical Montages: <http://montages.blogspot.com/> * Greens for Nader: <http://greensfornader.net/> * Bring Them Home Now! <http://www.bringthemhomenow.org/> * Calendars of Events in Columbus: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/calendar.html>, <http://www.freepress.org/calendar.php>, & <http://www.cpanews.org/> * Student International Forum: <http://sif.org.ohio-state.edu/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://www.solidarity-us.org/>