Mike Guantonio – 11/3/04

This page was last updated on November 3, 2004.

Not an expendable commodity; Mike Guantonio; Beaver County Times; November 3, 2004.

It appears this letter may have been part of a high school assignment. Three letters from Monaca Senior High School students were published today.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In one year, I’ll be old enough to vote, go out past curfew, be considered a man and be eligible for the looming draft.”

[RWC] Regarding “the looming draft,” Mr. Guantonio is a victim or propagator of a lie.

The only people who expressed a desire for a draft were Democrats. The two service bills introduced as a political stunt in January 2003 were written and sponsored solely by Democrats. When Republicans finally called the Democrat bluff, the House version of the bill was defeated 402-2. Even the bill’s author, Charles Rangel (D-NY) voted against it. The only two reps who voted for the bill? You guessed it, two Democrats, Murtha of Pennsylvania and Stark of California.

President Bush has said repeatedly he does not want a draft and so have VP Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. Even if President Bush wanted a draft, there’s no support for a draft in Congress and we can’t have a draft without authorization from Congress.

Finally, there’s no need for a draft. The Pentagon has met or exceeded its enlistment and re-enlistment goals the past two years.

The draft issue was simply a baseless scare tactic dreamed up by desperate Democrats hoping to scare draft-age voters into voting against President Bush.

“We may be currently at war, a war that we have not fully agreed with. People are dying every day, and fewer and fewer people are enlisting.”

[RWC] There has not been a war in American history with which everyone agreed and there never will be.

“If we institute a draft, I will be considered no better than an expendable commodity. ‘To die in war is to die with honor.’ That’s an honor I wish not to have.”

[RWC] I don’t know anyone who considers our servicemen and service women to be an expendable commodity.

“I’m not a weapon of my government. I have my own dreams, hopes and fears. My one hope is not to go to a war that I didn’t have any say in.”

[RWC] We have our say when we elect our representatives. It was not so long ago that men could go to war but could not vote. That was the case for the vast majority of draftees for the Vietnam War and all previous wars. Until the 26^th Amendment was ratified in 1971, you had to be 21 years old to vote.

“I am a person, not a mindless drone. If we have a draft, we are only showing how much this country has truly given us: a dictator government and a chance to die overseas.”

[RWC] I’m not sure where Mr. Gould gets the idea we’re trying to be a policeman for the world. In general terms, I believe we should not be. At the same time, being the world’s pre-eminent republic and the lone superpower brings responsibility. In some cases, that means we’ll occasionally need to use our military strength to protect those who cannot protect themselves even when there is no security threat to us. We would do this for the same underlying reasons we provide disaster aid. Regardless of party, no U.S. administration wants to use force. Sometimes, though, that decision is not in our hands.