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Fight
for your conscience, protect yourself from
war
Ready
to fight in the Middle East? Any day
now, the government could reinstitute the
draft, impressing Cal State Long Beach students
and other young adults into military service.
Believe it.
At
his inauguration, President George W. Bush
set out his agenda for the next four years.
Read it. The United States will fight tyranny
and inject liberty pretty much over the
whole globe.
Military
experts warn that our troops are overcommitted
in Iraq and won't be leaving soon, perhaps
for years. Months ago we instituted
a "backdoor draft" of retired
military reservists, and our Army Reserve
and National Guard are being recycled back
into Iraq and Afghanistan daily. And any
day, warns Vice President Richard Cheney,
the Israeli Air Force may decide to use
our lately-delivered "bunker-buster"
bombs to take out Iran's nuclear facilities.
Don't you suspect that our military forces
may need to intervene to "stabilize"
that country?
Few
young people realize that draft boards are
already in place. They have your registered
names ready for immediate induction.
The draft-vulnerable among you need to clarify
now where you stand.
Oh
yes, Bush has vigorously denied he would
initiate a draft, but history shows us that
election-year promises don't amount to much.
Former President Lyndon B. Johnson also
vigorously denied the possibility of a draft,
yet not long after he was elected, he instituted
the draft, calling Vietnam an "emergency."
If
you know — or even suspect —
that you do not believe that war brings
peace, and that you could never kill in
war, now is the time to articulate your
conscientious objection. Having second
thoughts while on a troop ship to the Middle
East, to Korea or elsewhere will be too
late.
Establishing
your conscientious objection is simple:
Write down your personal thoughts and doubts
as best you can. Your objection, according
to current law, must be to all wars, but
the simple fact is that in retrospect all
wars can be seen unjust. And you cannot
kill in any war. Then have your statement
witnessed and dated by an academic instructor
or advisor, pastor or rabbi, physician or
therapist, anyone with official credibility.
This person needn't agree with you but only
serve to acknowledge your conscience and
then sign and date a sheet of paper.
Hold
onto such documents of conscience, as they
will serve as credible evidence of your
objection when presented to a draft board
or commanding officer. Ask for help. Act
now.
Through
three wars, I have done draft and conscientious
objection counseling on the CSULB campus.
I have urged the young and draft-vulnerable
to establish a record of their conscience
and of their informed world-view regarding
war and peace. You can contact me
at brophy@csulb.edu.
Contact any counselor.
Opposition
to war is patriotic — conscientious
objectors serve as their nation's conscience.
Robert
Brophy is a Professor Emeritus in the English
department at CSULB. |
