Draft policy worth revising

President Bush's War on Terrorism is inarguably controversial but who fights in it for the United States shouldn't be. \nIn the late 1960s, the draft was utilized to fill gaping vacancies in the military during the Vietnam War, and although the possibility of President Bush or Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry reinstating the draft to bolster the numbers of those fighting now is seemingly slim, the problem of too few troops still exists. A possible solution to combat the thinly spread military that must be considered is conscription.\nIf Congress and the president decide to combat the dwindling numbers of the voluntary military in this manner, it is important they do everything in their power to make the new draft as equal and fair as possible. Every citizen between the ages of 18 and 26, regardless of gender, economic class or race should be placed in the pool from which the military will draw.\nPreviously, the majority of men who were drafted were lower class minorities. This is partly due to the fact that a large number of middle and upper class men whose lottery numbers were selected were college students. Because of their college student statuses, these drafted men received deferments and did not have to serve.\nThe law as it stands now, thanks to changes made in 1971, is an improvement from the previous one. Currently, if a student is in school he is allowed to finish the semester in which he is enrolled, before induction into the military. If a student is a senior when he is called to serve, he is allowed to finish the academic year so he can obtain his degree. \nAlthough this would decrease the number of more highly educated people in the country, there is no alternative to making sure the draft would span all draft-age Americans of every economic class. \nAccording to the Selective Service System Web site draft boards are groups of appointed citizens who decide which of those people registered will receive deferments, postponements or exemptions from serving. The 1971 changes also brought new rules to the local draft boards. These changes indicated that the new boards should be as racially and ethnically diverse as the community that they are serving, therefore giving all draft-age Americans, excluding women, a fair chance.\nCurrently, if a draft were to be brought back, a lottery would be used to pick the draftees. Draft-age Americans would only spend one year on the first priority list, their 20th year, before moving further down the list. This eliminates the uncertainty and worry of the possibility of being drafted while within the entire age range of 18 to 26.\nThese changes to the draft law show considerable improvement to the previous law, but not enough to make conscription completely equal.\nCurrently, the law specifically refers to only "male persons" and would need to be amended to include women as well.\nConscription should be an absolute last resort by Congress and the president to deal with boosting military numbers, but if the draft is reinstated, everyone of draft-age, from those who live in the projects to those who live in the White House, should have an equal chance of being called to serve their country.