|
|
 |
The Draft is Coming, Maybe -- and I Don't Want to Go
Though most political commentators believe the nation will not soon
reinstitute the draft, many young women and men
aren't so sure
By Ann Bassette, Pacific News Service
August 6, 2004 - I can't really imagine myself holding onto some fat
gun, ready and waiting to shoot and kill for a war that I know barely
anything about. I sit in class and try to picture the type of scenarios
I could find myself in were I to be drafted -- huddled in a tent wearing
desert camouflage, hearing mortar blasts outside. I picture my friends
in the same situations and can't help but freak out. Lately, with all
the talk of the draft these unbelievable scenarios seem a lot closer to
reality.
Right now, there are two bills, HR.163 and S.89, that are trying make
joining the military a requirement. According to the Web site
Congress.org: "[These bills] provide for the common defense by requiring
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.'
I would have thought that the draft might be a partisan issue, with the
Republicans behind the whole thing, but that's not true. The bills are
supported by Democrats, too, who are pushing for equality in the draft
-- saying they want to make sure it would include anyone between the
ages 18-26, regardless of race or class. Somehow, I doubt that it would
ever work out to be an equal lottery.
Including women is a new exception this time around. I can't really see
the Olsen twins or Jessica Simpson being drafted. There has to be some
way to avoid it -- most likely hella money.
It's not like the draft hasn't happened before, which makes me think
that it could happen again. In 1917, the Selective Service Act was
enacted to get men for World War I, then it was used for World War II,
the Korean War and Vietnam. Before the war in Iraq, all I knew about war
was what I'd seen in movies like "Jacob's Ladder," this trippy movie
where a Vietnam vet has flashbacks of all the gory battles he was in. I
really don't want to be forced to be a part of a war that I am morally
against.
When I talk to other young people about the draft being reinstated, I
get mixed reactions. Either people aren't aware of the two bills, or
they believe that the draft will never happen, or they think it is
inevitable with the way our America works.
Tim Benton, 22, believes that the draft won't be necessary. "There are
too many troops that are still at home, so the draft won't be
reinstated."
Jenny Maka, 23, says, "It should be obvious that not many people believe
in the war, because nobody is signing up to fight for it even though
they're providing lip service to support it. If it meant so much to
Congress, the president and the whole bunch, they should send their own
kids instead of other peoples'."
People won't be able to escape to Canada or Mexico because they already
signed treaties with the United States to extradite draft dodgers. I
feel like I'm being plotted against, and the only real way out of it for
me would be pregnancy, and that may not even save me. The draft age
doesn't end until age 26, so they have a lot of years that they can try
to ship me out. People want to say that women won't be put on the
frontlines, but women used to not be included in the draft, either.
The whole thing seems to be a big secret that involves my body, but not
my vote. Nader is the only presidential candidate who openly opposes the
war in Iraq, yet I don't know if anyone is listening.
So will the draft really happen? I'm not sure, but really, who is to say
it won't happen? It pays to be aware of what bills are being discussed
right now. It may be boring to research, but it could be your own life
on the line.
PNS contributor Ann Bassette, 21, works for
YO! Youth Outlook, a magazine
by and for Bay Area youth and a PNS project.
|
