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With the anniversery of 9-11 coming up and with ISIS and the Ukraine prompting NATO to take a stand and confusion from the White House we may wind up with a serious Threat that will be responded to by a Draft and there will suddenly be a lot of people claiming to be Conscientious Objectors. Is this some legal loophole that some sleezeball can claim exemption on? There are two categories of Conscientious Objection: I-AO and I-O--and neither one actually expempts anybody!
I-AO is for those who oppose the taking of human life, so they serve as battlefield medics, which is considered the most dangerous job on the battlefield. A lot of Draft Dodgers avoid that offer by saying, "As soon as that man is healed he'll go back to killing and I just can't be a part of that." His Local Draft Board has to come up with a certain number to serve and if they're hard up for manpower they'd reason his reply like this: He just said he'd stand there and watch somebody die rather than render medical attention! He's no Conscientious Objector; he's a Cold-blooded Killer!
I-O is for those who have strong religious convictions that interfere with military service. It was set up for the Amish, the Mennonites, and the Jehovah's Witnesses. Their Churches will tell you they oppose military service, so the trick is to allow athiests to make the same claim, right? That's what nearly everybody thinks and it has routinely passed through a lot of confused court rooms, but here's the Problem: So many people opposed military service we had to Draft you and now we're going to take the reason you were Drafted as the reason you're exempt from the Draft? And since the Military is funded by taxes wouldn't these same people be exempt from paying taxes and yet don't the courts routinely rule that they must pay their taxes?
It turns out those strong religious conviction have nothing directly to do with military service! The Amish and Mennonites believe it is sinful to wear anything flashy and the military dress uniform is very flashy. This interferes with the development of unit cohesion in Basic Training. Some of them were drafted in World War I and they were model soldiers who would would obey the most disagreeable work orders without complaint but conscientiously refused to wear the dress uniform and it drove the Army crazy. The Jehovah's Witnesses belive that saluting the Flag is worshiping a god other than Jehovah. Some of them were also drafted in World War I. They, too, made model soldiers--until it came time to salute the Flag. And that interfered with the development of unit cohesion. If the Military could allow these exceptions then these guys could serve as battlefield medics, but since the difference between an army and a mob is discipline based on teamwork these exceptions will not be allowed at this time.
It's my understanding that if you choose the CO route, you must do 4 years of community service work. I know a few who did that back in the Viet Nam days.
If you were in a war zone would really want someone like that protecting your back?
They were commonly called "zombies" by Commonwealth allied troops during WWII.
The problem with disparaging all of them with generalizations is acknowledged by a story my father told me of how one of those guys drove his tanker truck through enemy lines to get to a group of Canadian tanks that had run low, with a choice of either abandoning their Shermans or getting refueled and fighting their way back to their own lines in the Liri Valley.
Some of them were indeed endowed with a higher developed moral imperative.
He might not be the guy who protects your back but the guy who goes out there under fire to drag your azz back to a field hospital. We need all kinds.
Conscription is disgusting, it is the assumption that your entire existence is somehow "owned" by the State. The belief that a human is just a piece of meat to be throw away at the whim of the State. It is a premise that should have been thrown away with all silly ideologies of tyrants from the past. When the nitwits in government who vote for war are the first people to drop in enemy territory, then maybe, maybe, the State has some cause to implement conscription.
It was the opposition to the Draft that sparked the Viet Nam War protest. That is the way I remember it. If you want to stop playing Whack A Mole around the world bring back the Draft. When defense of the country is spread throughout the population, the population will be engage in politics, and decide what is in their best interest. Few people will protest a war fought by volunteers and government will use them like rented mules. The best way to bring back the Draft is to educate the young in your own family and communities why it is not a good idea to enlist in military service. When there is not enough volunteers or private contractors the Military Industrial Complex will force the draft on their puppets through campaign contributions. Their is no way they can resist that kind of bribe and stay in office.
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