THE DRAFT (HR 163)

[Zlatko Waterman]

All:

I was drafted for the War in Vietnam in 1966, at the age of 21. At the time, I was finishing BA degrees in two majors ( Art and English). Some of my highschool and college friends had recently been drafted and had died in combat. My draft notice ( followed by three pre-induction physicals-- I was eventually rated 1Y, since I am blind in my left eye . . .) created an unprecedented emergency in my young life. I was assured by my government and by the Army officials I talked to at Oakland Afees Induction Center that my involuntary service was necessary to prevent East Asia from succumbing to the dreaded "Domino Effect."

Here are some thoughts by Representative Ron Paul on a current resolution proposing the draft be restored for young men and women of this generation:


(Z)








Reject Draft Slavery

by Rep. Ron Paul
I oppose HR 163 in the strongest possible terms. The draft, whether for military purposes or some form of "national service," violates the basic moral principles of individual liberty upon which this country was founded. Furthermore, the military neither wants nor needs a draft.

The Department of Defense, in response to calls to reinstate the draft, has confirmed that conscription serves no military need. Defense officials from both parties have repudiated it. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has stated, "The disadvantages of using compulsion to bring into the armed forces the men and women needed are notable," while President William Clinton's Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera, in a speech before the National Press Club, admitted that, "Today, with our smaller, post-Cold War armed forces, our stronger volunteer tradition and our need for longer terms of service to get a good return on the high, upfront training costs, it would be even harder to fashion a fair draft."

However, the most important reason to oppose HR 163 is that a draft violates the very principles of individual liberty upon which our nation was founded. Former President Ronald Reagan eloquently expressed the moral case against the draft in the publication Human Events in 1979: "[Conscription] rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is for the state – not for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachers – to decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That assumption isn't a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea."

Some say the 18-year old draftee "owes it" to his (or her, since HR 163 makes women eligible for the draft) country. Hogwash! It just as easily could be argued that a 50-year-old chickenhawk, who promotes war and places innocent young people in danger, owes more to the country than the 18-year-old being denied his (or her) liberty.

All drafts are unfair. All 18- and 19-year-olds are never drafted. By its very nature a draft must be discriminatory. All drafts hit the most vulnerable young people, as the elites learn quickly how to avoid the risks of combat.

Economic hardship is great in all wars. War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures. The great tragedy of war is that it enables the careless disregard for civil liberties of our own people. Abuses of German and Japanese Americans in World War I and World War II are well known.

But the real sacrifice comes with conscription – forcing a small number of young vulnerable citizens to fight the wars that older men and women, who seek glory in military victory without themselves being exposed to danger, promote. The draft encourages wars with neither purpose nor moral justification, wars that too often are not even declared by the Congress.

Without conscription, unpopular wars are difficult to fight. Once the draft was undermined in the 1960s and early 1970s, the Vietnam War came to an end. But most importantly, liberty cannot be preserved by tyranny. A free society must always resort to volunteers. Tyrants think nothing of forcing men to fight and serve in wrongheaded wars. A true fight for survival and defense of America would elicit, I am sure, the assistance of every able-bodied man and woman. This is not the case with wars of mischief far away from home, which we have experienced often in the past century.

A government that is willing to enslave some of its people can never be trusted to protect the liberties of its own citizens. I hope all my colleagues join me in standing up for individual liberty by rejecting HR 163 and all attempts to bring back the draft.

[Lightning Rod]

My Draft Experience

In 1969 I took a semester vacation from college. This cost me my student deferment from the draft.

At the time I lived in a commune in Denton with about 15 members, most of whom were students or ex-students. We all knew people who had died in Vietnam. Some were our former classmates.

When the subject of our vulnerability to the draft came up, six or seven of us agreed that we were going to go for the queer dodge.

We agreed we would support each other's stories of homosexual orgies in the old house in which we all lived. There actually were orgies in the old house, but they were of a more heterosexual nature. In other words, we were taking the Phil Ochs approach to draft dodging:

I'm only eighteen, I got a ruptured spleen
And I always carry a purse
I got eyes like a bat, and my feet are flat, and my asthma's getting worse
Yes, think of my career, my sweetheart dear, and my poor old invalid aunt
Besides, I ain't no fool, I'm a-goin' to school
And I'm working in a DEE-fense plant

And when it came my time to serve I knew "better dead than red"
But when I got to my old draft board, buddy, this is what I said

Well, this is what I did. I dressed up in paisley pants and a billowy sleeved shirt and put a dangling earring in my ear. I cut all my hair off. I went into the draft board eating a bunch of green grapes by means of tilting my head back and dangling the bunch of grapes into my mouth and chewing them off.

Then I proceeded to disobey every order with the admonition, "sorry, I'm not in your Man's Army yet, you won't order me around." In short I did everything I could to demonstrate that I would be much more trouble than I was worth. I failed the IQ test which has questions like:

(cartoon illustration of a screwdriver)

This is a:
(A) Screwdriver
(B)Yo mama
(C) Hammer,
(D) All of the above.

I mixed my urine sample with about three other guys. I wore no underwear. When the interviewer asked me if I had ever had homosexual relations, I put my hand on his knee. I got about halfway through the physical before they hustled me out the door with a 1-Y (only available for service in times of national emergency.)

A little theater proved just as effective as a trip to Canada (or to jail like Mohammed Ali) and much cheaper.

[e_dog]

wow, thanks for sharing your stories, guys.

although it may be not worth the cost in lives and allowing the assault on human dignity, i sort of think it might be a good thing if the draft is re-introduced. such an issue seems to have helped focus and intensify anti-war resistance during the Vietnam era. while many people, inclu. young people are against the war in Iraq, there is not much serious commitment and intensive activism nor media coverage of the anti-war movement, which would definitey increase were there to be a draft. of course, if i had to decide the issue i would of course vote against a draft to express the principle quite clearly that conscription violates human moral freedom, although, at the same time i actually think the effects might backfire against the warhawks. it may be the case that an anti-draft movement (in response to an existing draft) is a stronger social force than an anti-war movement in the context of a pure 'volunteer' army.

[Lightning Rod]

I think this is a very on time observation, dog

I also think that a draft would galvanize the youth and mothers

get it out front, instead of the sneaky, backdoor draft we have now.

and make it a universal draft with no deferments and no buying your way out

[abcrystcats]

I absolutely agree, e-dog. With every other mother's 18 year old son shipping off to be blasted by terrorist bombs in Iraq, the apathy to the war would change in a matter of months or weeks.

Lightning Rod, your story made me laugh till I cried!

[Dave The Dov]

Just like what they did with the draft cards. So shall it be done with HR 163. JUST BURN IT!!!!
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