Much like Vietnam, our reasons for invading Iraq in the first place were uncertain to say the least, a fact which makes a draft all the more unappealing. In both Vietnam and Iraq we headed into the war with no clear resolution in mind. I can't say I'd be happy if there was a good reason to go to war either, but I certainly would not be willing to risk my life or even just run the risk of getting a scratch or a bruise over a stupid war like this one.
Then again, although politics alone may prevent a bill to activate the draft from getting too far (those senators certainly don't want their sons and daughters over in Iraq either, plus they surely wouldn't want to lose votes), there is little doubt that Bush will still push the bill, so people should be involved and aware of what's going on to make it even harder to pass. One easy way to potentially avoid all of this is to get Bush out of office. Apparently if younger people would vote, we'd have a good chance of that actually happening. So all the young people that can vote would be doing themselves quite a service by voting for Kerry and therefore not having to deal with the same burden their parents probably had to deal with during Vietnam.
Although, the draft being proposed now is slightly different than the one during the Vietnam era. During Vietnam lots of rich, white kids were able to avoid the draft, or defer until they finished college. So it ended up being mainly minorities fighting the war. The draft being proposed now would make it much more difficult to avoid by not allowing college deferments, making it harder to cross into Canada, and the measure that would effect me the most - it would include women.
Hopefully writing an entry on my website will be the biggest impact a possible draft will have on my life. Because I obviously have more important things to think about regarding my future, like college (eek!) and what I'm going to study (I have no idea). So there you have it, my thoughts for the evening.
Posted by lib at September 26, 2004 08:04 PM