regional confli cts of the Soviet Union would
grow and lead to a supe rpower showdown. The national defense structure at that time had been gutted and allowed the volunteer Armed Forces to fall to dangerously low levels ... that is not the case today. This Con -
gress has made a commi tment to a strong national defense. We intend to keep mi litary personnel equipped and ready to fight .. .I n almost 10 years of the Vietnam war,jus[ under 2.5 million Americans we re sent to the combat area; one of every four of those young Americans were drafted. In 10 years we did not send the number of volunteers that can be deployed from ou r shores today... [Ending Selective Service] will not leave the U.S. defense vulnerable. We have 3 million vo lunteers ready to fig ht. Critics of Selective Service believe that there is little need for draftees in IOday's military. Modern warfare has become increasingly reliant on technology and specialized personnel to defend U.S. interests. Gone are the days when a recruit could be given a gun, grenade, and a few months of instruction before being sent into battle. Today's military consists primarily of professionals who have gone through years of extensive training to handle advanced computerized weapons and machinery. In addition, the Gulf War demonstrated that fore ign powers could now be neutralized through the usc of missiles and airpower with minimal face- to-face confrontation benveen soldiers. AJso at issue is the f.,ct that women are currently exempt from the registmtion requirement, a policy that has caused resentment among young men who stand to lose important benft
ally less capable than men. The topic was initially discussed when a shortage of nurses du ring the Second World War led the government to contemplate drafting women to flU vacancies in the medical field. A surge in volunteerism made the drafting of medical personnel irrelevant and the issue was dropped. M ore recently, President Clinton reviewed the exempt starus of women and concluded that there was no need fo r Congress to amend the draft law because women have not yet been put in combat roles by the U.S. military and the current system was enough to meet the nation's security needs. Pposition to the draft is nothing new. T he fact of the matter is that the draft has never really been popular. Early attempts at conscription during the C ivil War resulted in four days of rioting because the draft laws aIlowed men to avoid service by paying 5300, an amount most working men could not afford. Activist during the First World War argued that the draft violated the liberty of Americans by removing their freedom to choose whether to fight or not . Over 250,000 eligible men failed to register as required. In 1940, Afte r ca mpaigni ng on a platform of isolationism, Franklin Roosevelt alarmed the American public when he established the Selective Service and began the first peacetime draft as the conflict in Europe was escalating. Conscription was briefly suspended at [he end of the Second World War, but millions of young men were drafted between 1948 and 1973 to keep the nation at a state of readi ness to combat communism. Following the war in Korea, the Vietnam conflict saw the most active, prolonged opposi tion to the draft, prom pting the US to end the registration re-
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The purpose of the registration requirement is to give the United States an insurance policy against any unforeseen threat against national security. efit s for failing to comply. As women play an ever- increasing role in the all volunteer military, some question the fairness of the draft when on ly women arc given the option of serving. Some women have even expressed co ncerns that the registration exe mption reinforces the stereotype that they are generRi pon Forum • Winttr 2002
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