A military draft: ominous words of our collective collegiate destiny or merely conspiracy theory? Six months ago I felt draft rumors were the result of savvy political campaigning; scare the college kids to vote liberal. However, the election has now passed, the rumors remain, and an alarming amount of evidence is surfacing that points to Congress re-instituting a military draft.
So, what evidence is there? First, Congress took under advisement in 2002 three different scenarios that could trigger the re-issuance of a military draft. The first scenario entails a prolonged war with Iraq; the second involves expanding U.S. military involvement beyond Iraq and Pakistan; and the third scenario entails another major terrorist attack upon American soil. What is most alarming is that any of these scenarios could easily confront the United States in the near future. It seems the line that separates us from being college students and activated military personnel is thinner than one would like to think.
There exists further evidence for the re-issuance of a military draft. In January, a letter written by the powerful and influential think tank, Project for the New American Century, advised leading members of Congress to “take the steps necessary to increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps.” This increase in military personnel far exceeds the total number of new incoming recruits. Said another way, they are requesting Congress to re-issue the draft.
A community organization in Eugene is taking steps to help people of draft age (18-26) to prepare against being drafted. The Community Alliance of Lane County has increased its staffing of draft counselors and will hold a Draft Education Forum to educate students on ways to prepare for a draft. The meeting will be held
March 3 at 5:00 p.m. in Esslinger 116. CALC also offers free drop-in counseling every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its office located at 458 Blair St.
I strongly encourage University students to take advantage of this Draft Education Forum and the free drop-in counseling provided by CALC. I am sure for many students it is hard to believe they would be drafted. Many Vietnam vets thought the same thing, but many were drafted. And when drafted and forced to fight in Vietnam, many thought they would never get hurt, but many were injured or never came back. It is incumbent upon the students to take actions to protect themselves against succumbing to a similar fate.
Rodney Yoder
Eugene