Barbaric Idea: Women Have to Register for the Draft

I cannot believe it:  Bush, Rubio and Christie all indicated in the GOP NH debate that they favored requiring women to register for the military draft:

Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie indicated support for opening Selective Service up to women in case the draft is ever reinstated, the three Republicans said Saturday.

“I have no problem whatsoever with people of either gender serving in combat so long as the minimum requirements necessary to do the job are not compromised,” Rubio said. “I support that. Now that that is the case, I do believe Selective Service should be opened up for both men and women in the case a draft is ever instituted.”

Bush made it a point to note that there is no draft currently, but did say “I do, I do,” when asked if young women should be required to sign up for Selective Service.

“The draft’s not going to be reinstituted,” he said.

Pressed by host Martha Raddatz, Bush replied: “We don’t have a draft, I’m not suggesting we have a draft,” but he is focused on military readiness and high morale, and has no objection to women serving in combat roles.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie didn’t directly express his views on requiring women to register for the Selective Service, but said more broadly, “There’s no reason why one young woman should be discriminated against for registering for the Selective Service.”

I’m done with all three of those candidates for the primary.  I can assure you if young women – mothers especially – get required to register for the draft – I’ll find every appropriate and legal way to peacefully protest this barbaric outrage.  I’ll hit the streets.  Be the world’s oldest hippie.  This country MUST NOT send women to war.  It is because of Jeb Bush’s brother that we have women and even mothers being deployed to what was in effect combat roles.  But at least those ladies chose to join the armed forces.  But it was not right.  Not to meddle in other people’s business.  Not to build nations.

But a draft is different:  it’s involuntary.  There should not even be a draft unless there is a clearly declared war and imminent danger to the United States.  Not to do good or to stop alleged genocide or to build nations and other meddling (That ought to cover all the wars since 1992 we have been in with the possible exception of Afghanistan but we expanded that mission beyond what was necessary); if we draft women, this may force the people to consider if these wars are worth it.  But too often war gets started by Presidents and Congress does nothing – gave no approval – will not stop it – and these wars are not in our interest.  And women will be drafted and serve in combat involuntarily.

There was one candidate who said no:  Ted Cruz.

“The idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat, I think, is wrong,” Cruz told a crowd –unprompted – at a campaign rally. “It is immoral. And if I am president, we ain’t doing it.”

Cruz is right.  It is immoral.  It’s barbaric.  And two REPUBLICAN Congressmen have actually introduced a bill to REQUIRE women to register for the draft:

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine veteran, and Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., a retired Navy SEAL, filed the Draft American’s Daughters Act to stoke debate over the military’s historic move to fully integrate female troops into all combat roles. If passed, women from 18-26 years old would for the first time have to join men in registering with the Selective Service program and potentially be forced to fight in future wars.

If you live in the district if either of these representatives (who I think did it to start a debate rather than because they favor it but a bill is a bill and it could pass in spite of them!) tell them:  NO DRAFT FOR WOMEN.  Period.  No compromise here.