University of Virginia Library

selective service system
contradicts freedom

It is impossible to respond negatively
to such a proposal. Indeed, from the
standpoint of the eligible pool of
manpower, just about any change in the
Selective Service System would be an
improvement. The present system seems
to rest on the assumption that exposure
to compulsory military service, including
a war which most Americans now regard
as a blunder, is for some reason a healthy
process for young Americans. General
Hershey's efforts to use the draft as a
punitive device without the delays and
complications of due process - place it
even more sharply in conflict with the
fundamental ideals of a free society. No
one who believes in those ideals can find
grounds for objection to the changes
planned by the President.

But here again the illusion of
meaningful action outweighs the
substance. The adjustments announced on
Friday leave intact the most pernicious
single aspect of the Selective Service
System. With or without the change,
thousands of young American men will
be compelled, willing or not, to serve in
the armed forces. Their right to liberty,
their right to follow pursuits of their own
choosing, will be denied. Their
occupations will be determined not by
the incentives required to attract
manpower in the competitive market, but
by the dictates of intrusive governmental
authority.

Mr. President, it has been widely
speculated that the two steps announced
last Friday are part of an attempt to
defuse youthful opposition to the war in
Vietnam.

In combination with the partial troop
withdrawals which are now underway, it
has been suggested that the attempt to
beatify the draft and to briefly limit its
effect will muffle the voices which are
calling for a prompt end to our
involvement in Vietnamese affairs.

If that is the strategy it is bound to
fail. It amounts to a grave miscalculation
on both the motives and the perception
of those who seek a change in policy.
They object not so much because of
personal costs but because they believe in
the ideals for which they have been told
this country stands. They can see no
legitimate interest in Vietnam which
could possibly justify the loss of 40,000
lives or even the risk of a single additional
American. The can see no interest which
demands that we neglect crushing
problems at home while laying billions of
dollars at the feet of a corrupt military
government 10,000 miles away. And they
can see no reason why a nation founded
on liberty and professing human dignity
as its goal should extract involuntary
service from any of its citizens.

The draft will not be acceptable until
it is gone. The war in Vietnam will not be
acceptable until it is over.

We have waited too long on both.