So some would like to see a draft instituted..........

[PaDem]

My question for my fellow DUers is as follows: If the draft was reinstituted to fulfill obligations in Iraq, and you were drafted, would you comply?

Pretend that you meet the age requirements.

[babylonsister]

1. I hear Canada is nice this time of year.

Hell, no, I wouldn't comply.

[stop the bleeding]

2. I would never kill innocent people for an unjust war

effing no - would goto prison 1st, but rather would leave the country instead of the klink

[Ian David]

14. Maybe get your eight weeks of basic training before you go to jail?

I mean, if you're going to be jailed anyway, shouldn't you at least get as much military and combat training on Uncle Sam's dime as you can before you're sent up the river?

I think the real reason they don't want gays in the military is because they don't want gay people knowing how to defend themselves with lethal force.

The more gays, progressives, and liberals trained in lethal force, the better.

That's just my own, personal opinion. It's not even advice.

[atreides1]

3. Yes

Because failure to do so would make me as much of a coward and a hypocrite as Bush and Cheney!!!

And perhaps the starting of a mutiny would be something that I would consider, and the only way to do that is from within, not from Canada!!!!

[boolean]

19. Bullshit

It takes more courage to defy it than to comply. This mindset people have that one is a coward for opposing an ILLEGAL and IMMORAL act of aggression must end.

[Hemperor]

25. I disagree, I would also join up.

I feel it is my duty as an American to serve my country if selected. "Ours is not to question why but to do and die." I would not desert, and you should not begrudge anyone their right to do the same.

Some things go beyond politics.

[patricia92243]

4. Boy that is a good question. If I could choose some other country - even

Afghanistan or something along that line, I'm sure that I'd comply.


If I knew ahead of time that I'd HAVE to go to Iraq, I think I'd try to run away. I might even go to prison - better alive in the poky than dead in Iraqi.


One never knows what they will do until actually faced with it.

[Corgigal]

5. I would

but they can't have my children, unless for some stupid reason they wanted to go.

[Coyote_Bandit]

6. They wouldn't have me

I'm partially sighted in one eye (doesn't correct above 20/100) and have inner ear problems that affect both hearing and balance. But I would gladly serve my country in some capacity.

As for the draft.....well, the one sure effect of reinstituting it (assuming there are almost no exclusions) would be that nearly everyone would be invested in the actions of the country. It is easy to send somebody else to fight and die. Not so easy to go yourself or to send your kids or grandkids. Affects the way one views political and military options if they can be directly impacted. I'm not sure this is necessarily bad for the country as a whole. But, yeah, it stinks to think that one might have to go fight a war they don't support. In that case, I definitely understand ducking out.

[gratuitous]

7. Conscientious Objector

I have my file all set up, with a long record of membership in the Church of the Brethren, thousands of dollars of donations to On Earth Peace, Christian Peacemaker Teams, and other groups opposed to violence, my own participation in a CPT delegation, and statements from people who know me.

I'm against involuntary conscription as much as I'm against war as a tool of foreign policy or as a political tool for re-election. Which pretty much covers just about any use of war, which I have never in all my lifetime used for the purposes of furthering peace and comity between nations.

[Ian David]

12. That will put you in a Conscientious Objector Work Program...

possibly even a Conscientious Objector Work Camp.

Probably working for Halliburton.

Still, it looks like it's probably the better option.

I hope you're helping others set-up similar files and paper trails?

That's just my own, personal opinion. It's not even advice.

[gratuitous]

15. Naw, more likely it would put me in jail

Because I wouldn't work for Halliburton or any other war profiteer.

[Ian David]

21. The Government is supposed to make an effort to place Objectors in....

programs that fit both their skills and their beliefs.

However, I don't think that with Bush and The Republick Party in control, they plan on trying very hard to meet that obligation.

Ater all, The Unitary Executive can just ignore the law whenever he feels like.

Who do you think they've been building all those huge, outdoor prison complexes for, by the way?

My guess: Illegal immigrants, Conscientious Objectors, Jews, Muslims, Gays...

That's just my personal opinion.

[Zensea]

24. probably not actually

Church of the Brethren has a long history of conscientious objection and the authorities don't like to mess with them.
Same goes for the connected churches -- Brethren in Christ, Amish and Mennonites.

[sui generis]

8. I'm not in favor of reinstating the draft - a little nuance here

I am in favor of the process of attempting to reinstate the draft, in an election year.

Answer to your question: No. If we had a plan, if we were establishing a stable humanitarian government, goals, deadlines, dates, I might consider it. But not for a mess.

I'm a voluntary taxpayer tied to being a voluntary citizen; you can bet if my country takes away my "choice" to volunteer, then it's not my country any more.

This isn't the middle ages, and none of us are serfs.

[TechBear_Seattle]

9. I still have my CO portfolio around somewhere

When I was a junior in high school, I started assembling a CO portfolio that documented my opposition to war and military service. It contained essays I had written for school, notes on protest rallies I had attended and participated in (the Air Force base in Tucson was where people were trained to fire the Cruise missiles), articles clipped from magazines and newspapers stapled to essays I wrote explaining my feelings on the article, letters from family and friends, a notarized copy of my draft registration form with "I OPPOSE WAR IN ALL FORMS" written into the "second address" space, etc., etc.

It is in serious need of updating, but I should be able to do it pretty quickly. Among other things, I can go to Google Groups and print out anti-war posts I've made over the last ten years or so, along with anti-war letters to the editor that have been published and various other things.

I would still serve if required, but I would much rather be someone helping save lives than helping murder other people.

FAQ on CO status: http://www.serv.net/~techbear/writings/FAQ-CO.html

[Zensea]

10. I was a Conscientious Objector at the time of Vietnam War

I'd just do it again.

[Ian David]

11. I wouldn't be qualified to be a conscientious objector...

I'd have to report for the draft.

But then I would also be obligated to refuse deployment to Iraq, even if it means facing court martial.

The upside is, if I survive incarceration (and if I'm not executed) I would have been trained in modern military combat before being released back upon the streets of Republican-Occupied America.

That's just my own, personal opinion. It's not even advice.

[Beelzebud]

13. I'd be the first to burn my draft card, and head to D.C. for the protests.

It would just be a re-birth of what they used to call the "counter-culture".

[Lowell]

16. Of course

I was drafted in 1967 and ended up serving 15 years. You don't have to agree with the administration to serve. I learned that you can serve honorably regardless of the circumstances that got you there.

[EstimatedProphet]

17. I won't be. My wife still could be.

And there's no way I would let her go.

[SutaUvaca]

18. No way!

During Vietnam I was uninformed. Enlisted in the AF partly to not become play-dough for the Army. THis time I know better.
No compliance.

[blues90]

20. No I would resist of vanish

This is something I am certain of , killing for no reason in a false war no way .

[Ian David]

22. You wouldn't avail yourself of free, military combat training first?

That's just my personal opinion, and isn't even advice.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. 4 years in the Marine Crotch convinced me - Never again.

After my 4 years were up, I helped some "our boys" on their way to Canada.

Yet, I'm for the draft I fought against back then. Better a "citizen army" than a "well, you signed up for it" professional army.

[Nikki Stone 1]

26. New book sells the draft to American middle class

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2470757&mesg_id=2470948

The book is written by a Dem, and it is my contention that it is Democrats who have been chosen to sell the draft to the American people. The military needs cannon fodder, the recruiting numbers are way down, and Iran will be invaded one way or another. The "populist" Democrats are being pulled in to sell a draft to the people.