Bush victory could bring return of draft
DEAR EDITOR:
Some polls indicate a majority of young men and women think George W. Bush will institute a military draft if he wins a second term. Bush claims he will not. I think the point of the polls is that most young people just do not believe him. I don't believe him either.
I am 62 years old. When I was a young man, the draft was a fact of life, although young women back then were not subject to the draft. They would be now.
Different young men coped with the draft in different ways. A few resisted, and some conscientious objectors went to prison. Some went to Canada. A good high school friend of mine did, and he is still there. He likes living in Canada.
Many others in those days, like Vice-President Cheney, got student deferments. Some, again like Cheney, avoided the draft by getting married. When the marriage exemption was ended, some, again like Cheney, got a deferment by having a baby.
Of course, even during the Vietnam era most guys either just enlisted or waited around to get drafted. A few privileged young men with influence, like Bush himself, were able to get berths in the National Guard.
Today, thousands of reservists and National Guard members are no longer serving voluntarily. They have been kept in the military past their agreed terms of enlistment by "stop loss" orders - the back-door draft.
Bush will crank up the draft machinery if he is elected. Anyone who does not want to see the draft return, and especially anyone who might be drafted, has a potent reason to vote on Nov. 2.
Mike Harty
Civil Service staff, Morris Library
[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]
Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads
Last update: Thursday, October 21, 2004 at 3:34:05 AM
Copyright 2009 Voices
|
