Word: drafted
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...election--all do their part to plague the American military. Fallows contends. He lays the bulk of the blame for weakness, though, on two phenomena: The Pentagon's affection for unbelievably expensive and ludicrously ineffective high-tech weaponry, and the manpower problems that have developed since the draft was halted...
...grad. They can't do that anymore, because the college kids aren't there." And more than nice--a representative military helped America to see its defenders as honorable, not unfortunate, and perhaps made the country more reluctant to go hastily to war. Fallows' prescription is simple: Revive the draft, and remove all the exemptions that once protected the sons of the wealthy...
Considered in that light, the congressional rationale for excluding women passed with flying colors. Wrote Justice William Rehnquist for the majority: "The purpose of registration was to prepare for a draft of combat troops. Since women are excluded from combat,* Congress concluded that they would not be needed in the event of a draft, and therefore decided not to register them." He said Congress had determined that even with women restricted to noncombat positions, registering them "would be positively detrimental to the important goal of military flexibility." Reason: in emergencies, armies sometimes use support personnel to fill frontline holes...
...Women: "It perpetuates the myth that we can't cut the mustard, when we know that we can." She and others maintain that many men refuse to back the ERA and other guarantees of equality on the ground that since women do not bear certain burdens, like the draft, they are not entitled to all of society's benefits. Most scholars, however, do not view the decision as a major high-court retreat on sex discrimination. Says University of Virginia Law Professor A.E. Dick Howard: "I'd call this a military case, not a sex-discrimination case...
Lower Standards. The Administration's draft does not propose changing primary air quality standards, which protect health. But it would eliminate "secondary" standards designed to protect American agriculture from environmental damage. The draft amendments would also eliminate the requirement that new industrial polluters offset emissions by reducing pollution from other sources. Automobile emission standards would be dropped to below the levels already attained by some cars currently on the road...