On the one hand, I support the war on terror and specifically the war in Iraq.
On the other hand, I vehemently oppose a military draft. The government shouldn't be getting into wars that they can't convince people to voluntarily fight. That makes an important check on the government.
We haven't had an actual military draft in years. However, we STILL have draft registration. [Thank you, Jimmy Carter.]
An ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure, check out Draft Resistance Org.
The first line on their site just gives me a little thrill: "This site is a crime against the Military Selective Service Act."
Sweet.
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
i was so pissed off when i had to register for the draft that i wrote "this fuckin' sucks" on the back of the card/form (this was back in 1979)
good thing i'm 'old' now.
2 - Eric Olsen
I am against the draft, but I am for some kind of 1 year government service between high school and college, especially after seeing how much my daughter has got out of Americorps for hte last year. It shouldn't be mandatory, but should be so highly incentivized (college money) that a majority would see it as worthwhile
3 - The Theory
I definately oppose the draft in wars which we get ourselves into, however, if other countries attack us and we need the troops (which in most cases I doubt we'd need), then I could understand it being re-instated.
peace.
4 - Tom Johnson
I never really worried about it. Bad eyes, flat feet, overweight . . . I was never so proud to be so flawed as when I signed that card knowing I'd never be eligible. ;-)
5 - Steve Rhodes
While I certainly am against the draft, the chances of it coming back are very low. But it is always what people fear.
A few years ago, a bill elminating draft registration almost passed mostly based on fiscal arguments - it is expensive. Even with soaring budget deficits, I don't see it happening now.
I was on the board of the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors from 92 to 99 which does some work on draft issues, but mostly focuses on people in the military who have decided they don't want to kill.
6 - Al Barger
Well, they ought to be thinking about not wanting to kill BEFORE they go volunteering for the military. I'm not going to be real sympathetic to someone who signs up, and then decides they don't like the work.
7 - The Theory
haha... seriously...
peace.
8 - Eric Olsen
There are people who don't always, um, think things through (see Dennis Kucinich on abortion)
9 - Steve Rhodes
People change and even the military takes that into account. That is why they have provisions for conscientious objectors.
They market military service as a way to pay for college and get job skills, not that you're going to be killing people.
One guy I counseled joined the national guard because it was the only way he thought he could pay for college. In college, he read Emerson, Ghandi and others and his views about killing changed. I was able to help him show the "crystalation" of his views through papers he wrote for class and columns he wrote for the school paper.
He was one of the few people who was granted CO status during the Gulf War (and he waited tables throughout grad school to pay back the money the military gave him for college).