Moran Warns of Quiet Plans to Reinstate Draft

A universal military draft could be in the works if a new approach to resolving the post-invasion turmoil in Iraq is not found, Rep. Jim Moran told a near-capacity audience at a town meeting here Monday. The event was held at the George Mason High School auditorium and featured sharp remarks critical of the Bush administration Iraq policy by former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Asked by a Mason High student about the prospect of a draft, Moran cited comments by GOP Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska that such a draft could be the only logical consequence of the administration's current unilateralist approach to Iraq, especially if the insurgency there continues to strengthen.

Moran indicated that some congressmen are already mulling legislation on the subject and that he's also been in discussions with colleagues about an alternative approach that would provide for "universal service." Under his plan, Moran explained, young Americans would have the option of mandatory service in a variety

The project will require a special exception and approval to a parking variance before it can move forward. of roles, and not simply military. "That's the tack I plan to take" if the subject of universal draft legislation arises, Moran said. Wilson was scathing in his criticism of Bush's Iraq policy, presented in opening remarks prior to a lengthy question-and-answer period at the event. He quoted former Reagan administration official Jim Webb, who said a year ago that Iraq "is a strategic failure of historic import."

Citing the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate released this summer, he said that Iraq is on the verge of descending into "chronic instability" and maybe into full-scale civil war.

Moran, in his remarks, called the Iraq invasion "one of the worst follies of any American administration ever." He called it "a war of choice not driven by any need to protect the U.S.," initiated by Bush over the objections of many in the military and intelligence communities who expressed their concerns in private, he said, about going in with no exit strategy. It was based on the allegation of operational ties between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda and on the existence of stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, both of which were, in fact, non-existent.

Wilson, after 28 years in the foreign service, was fired by the Bush administration for exposing Bush's lie, contained in his 2003 State of the Union message, that Saddam Hussein was attempted to acquire yellow cake uranium from Niger. Subsequently, someone in the Bush administration leaked to journalist Robert Novak, among others, the secret identity of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, who was operating in a clandestine CIA operation at the time. He is the author of a new book, "The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife's CIA Identity." Wilson said Monday that the Bush administration "used my wife in a despicable way" to get even for his whistle-blowing. "George Bush Sr. called such behavior, the expose of a CIA operative, treason," Wilson noted. Not only that, Wilson pointed out, his wife's work was in the highly sensitive area of tracking potential weapons of mass destruction. By blowing her cover, the Bush administration jeopardized the security of the U.S. population by damaging an important intelligence operation.

Wilson said he pins the blame entirely on the Bush administration not only for this case, but for categorically ignoring the counsel of the U.S. best foreign service experts on Iraq and the Middle East in deciding to invade Iraq. This caused a deep "breach of trust" between the administration and the intelligence community, he said. In addition, he added, "Bush has been AWOL on the Middle East peace process," leading to a massive escalation of violence and killing between the Israelis and Palestinians since he came into office.

Wilson was also critical of the Democrats in Congress for not demanding more U.S. involvement in Middle East peace, and of the media. In particular, he chastised CBS News for its decision not to report a story on 60 Minutes about Bush's phony Niger yellow cake claim because it would come too close to the election. "This form of self-censorship is the antithesis of what a free press in a democracy is supposed to be. It is caving in to political intimidation. There is no more solemn decision than one to send U.S. citizens to kill or die in our name. The public has a right to know everything about what went into that decision," he said. In the case of Iraq in the eyes of the world, he said, "We've demonstrated our weakness, not our strength. The numbers of people who hate us in the world has grown exponentially by this, and that does not make us safer." He blamed the Bush Iraq policy on the "blueprint for its foreign policy" developed by the Project for a New American Century, which, he said, projects the next 75 years "based on empty ideological solutions pretending to be policy solutions."