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Another View
Michelle Takiguchi |
United States resorts
to ‘backdoor draft’
for military needsSome say a draft has already begun.
Thousands of armed forces personnel who have finished their service in the military are being told that they can't go home just yet. The Pentagon calls it the "stop-loss" program. However, presidential candidate John Kerry calls it a "backdoor draft." Kerry says that a draft like this "runs counter to the traditions of an all-volunteer military."
This backdoor draft allows the president to extend deployment time to troops overseas.
But there are two drafts being talked about at the moment: one that is being implemented right under our noses, and the other possibly being sneaked in after the November election.
The second draft is the one that concerns me more.
Although I empathize with the troops who will have to extend their stay in war zones, I am more worried about the possibility that I will be drafted. I meet the qualifications for a draftee but do not believe that we should be at war.
With U.S. troops in Iraq being stretched thin and talk of the war on terrorism lasting 20 years or more, many young people are concerned that a draft might be imminent. Right now, more than 40 percent of American ground troops are made up of National Guardsmen and military reservists, two groups that are supposed to be our last means of defense.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld says that he doesn't believe a draft is necessary.
"We are perfectly capable of attracting and retaining the number of people we need without using compulsion," Rumsfeld said earlier this year. "I think we've got superb volunteers, and ... if we need a larger military, we certainly are capable of paying for a larger military."
Is this backdoor draft what Rumsfeld had in mind when he said we could afford a larger military? Isn't our military supposed to be completely voluntary? I don't think that forcing soldiers to serve an extended leave after being told that their military service would end is voluntary.
On Jan. 7, 2003, the Universal Service Act was introduced in the House and Senate. The act would require that "all young persons in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes."
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., an opponent of the war, introduced the bill in the House. Rangel, a Korean War veteran, talks about a need for "shared sacrifice." If implemented, the new draft would include women and not discriminate between the rich and the poor.
"Those who love this country have a patriotic obligation to defend this country. For those who say the poor fight better, I say give the rich a chance," Rangel said.
Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, a supporter of the war and decorated Vietnam veteran, supports mandatory service. He feels that the military is stretched thin in Iraq and that a shared sacrifice is necessary.
"Why shouldn't all Americans have to pay some price, make some sacrifice? Why is it that the middle class, lower-middle class are the ones doing the fighting and dying?" Hagel said in a radio interview with KPPR in Kearney, Neb.
It's odd that both supporters and opponents of the war are working symbiotically to push for a draft. One reason Rangel favors a draft is because he wants his peers to realize that their children also could be drafted. The sons and daughters of senators and representatives would not be exempt. Right now, only one congressman has a son in the military.
However, placing people in places they don't want to be and forcing them to fight for a cause they don't believe in is idiotic. If I was filled with patriotic fervor and believed in our government that much, I'd sign up for the Army now and make it my career. But I would never voluntarily sign up for the military.
Unlike the draft of Vietnam, the new draft envisioned by supporters would be nearly impossible to avoid.
Once an 18-year-old graduates from high school, he or she may be drafted. College students aren't exempt; a student near graduation like me could end up being trained as a soldier instead of searching for a job.
If a person is unfit for the military, Selective Services could force two years of community service on the draftee and have them do their part to fight terrorism. Conscientious objectors would still have to do community service.
The Selective Services Web site refutes allegations of a draft being near, saying it only "continues to refine its plans to be prepared as is required by law, and to register young men who are ages 18 through 25."
Right now, reinstating the draft seems to have little support in the Senate, where the draft bill has no co-sponsors. The House version has 14, including Hawaii Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie.
However, because this is an election year, the Department of Defense and the White House might want to avoid talk about a draft. It could stir up memories of Vietnam War protests and would certainly inflame growing anti-war passions.
I believe the president has already lost support with the implementation of the "stop-loss" program. Implementing a draft just before an election wouldn't be smart.
So, is a second draft on the horizon? We might not know until after the November election. Until then all anyone can do is be aware and be informed.
Michelle K. Takiguchi, 22, is a senior at the University of Hawaii-Manoa majoring in print journalism.