The proposal floated recently by two army generals that women should be required to register for selective service is definitely a step in the right direction, but only a step. If we follow through on the logic of this idea it would solve at least one of our global problems.
We have scarcely heard the word “draft” whispered since 2007 at the height of the war in Iraq, when Representative Charles Rangel spoke it out loud, and attracted some Congressional support. Cynical commentators suggested that talking about a draft was just a sneaky way of turning people against the war, but surely no politician could be that devious. No, the draft is a way to democratize war, to allow all of us to get involved. The Founders of this nation had no enthusiasm for a professional military. If you have a large standing army, as James Madison pointed out, the temptation to use it, or for it to use you, is almost irresistible. Instead the Founding Father planned for a mass mobilization of the population as and when necessary. It is necessary now, or soon will be.
But it has to be the right kind of draft, not a cherry picking operation that selects all the healthy eighteen year olds without rich parents. That was the bad old draft. The bright new equal opportunity draft would include absolutely everybody: pacifists and warmongers, Democrats and Republicans, believers and atheists, all ages, races, colors, and socio-economic profiles, and naturally both sexes: no exemptions, no deferments.
Everyone agrees that in the current regional conflicts we need more boots on the ground, even if they are orthopedic shoes or high heels. The British had 15,000 soldiers in Afghanistan in 1842 and they were wiped out. The United States has about 10,000 troops there right now. President Johnson, in the days of Vietnam, would have laughed at such a half-hearted measure. He threw in 365,000 new troops between 1965 and 1968. But President Johnson had the advantage of the draft.
A universal draft would indeed have many advantages. It would guarantee eventual victory by sheer weight of numbers, or perhaps by sheer weight. It would add interest to the lives of millions of bored housewives and idle senior citizens like me who are reasonably fit, and could carry a gun if it wasn’t too heavy and shoot straight if we had our glasses. It would educate women into the world of boy’s games that they now find so mystifying (while incidentally scaring the enemy half to death – our particular enemy is terrified of women), and it would introduce many young people to discipline, and allow them to use the skills they have learned playing violent video games.
Most important, a universal draft would share the pain of war, and the pride that comes from sacrificing oneself in a noble cause. When I was drafted into the army sixty years ago, my comrades and I took much comfort from the thought that we might be sacrificed in a noble cause. We talked about it all the time, although we managed to avoid making the actual sacrifice.
If we must have a war, let’s make it a genuine people’s war. If we’re going to bring democracy to the Middle East, let’s set an example with a truly democratic and equalitarian military.
It’s a drastic proposal I know, and it would be intolerable to impose such a huge burden on an unwilling public. We’ll have to vote on it.
Copyright: David Bouchier.
