Links about the Draft, Draft Registration, and Draft Resistance

Other links and resources about the draft, draft registration, and draft resistance:

1. Draft registration and the possibility of a general draft
2. Women, the draft, and draft registration
3. The medical draft ("Health Care Personnel Delivery System")
4. Financial aid for nonregistrants
5. Background on "Selective Service", draft registration, and draft resistance since 1980
   
6. Statistics on draft registration, resistance, compliance, and enforcement since 1980
7. Resistance within the military and by veterans and military families
8. USA war resisters in Canada and other countries
9. Resistance to military recruiting
10. Outsourcing and privatizing war to mercenaries and contractors
11. Other draft resistance and anti-draft organizations, Web sites, and events
12. U.S. Supreme Court decisions on draft registration since 1980
13. Other pending lawsuits related to draft registration
14. Proposed state and Federal legislation related to draft registration

• Draft registration and the possibility of a general draft

  • Resisters.info
    (this Web site of information about the draft and draft resistance)
  • MedicalDraft.info
    (more information about the possibility of a draft of health care workers)
  • Federal court declares current military draft registration requirement unconstitutional
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 24 February 2019)
  • "A modern-day draft, if marketed carefully and cleverly,..."
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 2 February 2019)
  • Leaflets about the draft, draft registration, and draft resistance
  • News, and updates on the draft and other issues of peace and war
    (from my blog)
  • Prosecutions of Draft Registration Resisters in the USA since 1980
    (includes final verdicts, sentences, and results of appeals in all 20 cases; also includes links to GAO audits and Selective Service System reports on compliance with registration)
  • National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service
    • Background, FAQ, and links about the Commission, including records of closed-door meetings and briefings releases in response to my FOIA request
    • Interim Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service
    • Testimony and reports from the hearing of the National Commission on Military Service in Denver
      (also reprinted by World Beyond War)
    • Podcast (35 min.): The Future of Draft Registration in the U.S.
      (Edward Hasbrouck with Courage to Resist, 22 February 2018)
    • Podcast (60 min.): Abolish the Draft! (Or Extend It To Everyone?) Edward Hasbrouck on the US Military Draft
      (Love and Revolution Radio with Sherri Mitchell and Rivera Sun, 2 July 2018)
    • Tell the Feds: End Draft Registration
      (Courage to Resist, 23 February 2018)
    • Statement to the National Commission: "What should be done about Selective Service?"
    • Written testimony to the National Commission: "Is a draft feasible? No."
    • End draft registration (PDF, LibreOffice)
    • Op-Ed: Dump draft registration, don't extend it to women
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, San Francisco Chronicle, 4 June 2016; PDF)
    • Commission reviewing national service, draft
      (by Tim Hubwer, Mennonite World Review, 27 August 2018)
    • National Commission on Military Service Comes to Southern California
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, Draft NOtices, October-December 2018)
    • Why Mandatory National Service is Both Unjust and Unconstitutional
      (by Ilya Somin, Reason/Volokh Conspiracy, 19 October 2018)
    • Abolish the Selective Service System
      (Editiorial, Georgetown Voice, 15 March 2019)
    • Mandatory national service: "Strengthening American Democracy" by ignoring Americans' rights
      (Op-Ed by Thomas L. Knapp, Fayette Tribune, 20 March 2019)
    • National Commission on Military Service To Release Interim Report in January 2019
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, Antiwar.com, 6 November 2018)
    • Selective Service Registration
      (Truth In Recruitment, 6 November 2018)
    • Federal commission on mandatory military service working on report
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, Courage to Resist, 8 November 2018)
    • National Commission on Military Service Interim Report Due Wednesday, January 23rd
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, Antiwar.com, 21 January 2019)
    • Should women be required to register for the draft? Commission likely to recommend big changes
      (by Gregory Korte, USA Today, 23 January 2019)
    • Errors of omission and commission in the Interim Report of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service
      (by Edward Hasbrouck, 23 January 2019)
  • Extend Selective Service Registration to Women or End it for Men?
    (Talk Nation Radio: Edward Hasbrouck with David Swanson, 19 July 2016; 29 minutes)
  • Women: Refuse to Register for the Draft
    (by Rivera Sun, 17 June 2016)
  • Don't Draft Women (Or Men)
    (Center on Conscience and War, 8 December 2016)
  • Don't Draft Women -- Or Men
    (by Jack Perry, 23 June 2016)
  • Abolish Selective Service.
    (a letter to Senators and Representatives in Congress)
  • House votes down proposal to defund the Selective Service System
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 7 July 2016)
  • Extend draft registration to women -- or end it?
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 11 December 2015; also reprinted by permission and with updates and variations by the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD), the San Diego Free Press, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and elsewhere.)
  • Future of Draft for Men and Women Goes to Court and Congress
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, World Beyond War, 20 February 2016)
  • Report on the Purpose and Utility of a Registration System for Military Selective Service
    (report to Congress by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, 17 March 2017; made public as an appendix to government motion to dismiss complaint in Kyle v. Selective Service System, filed 28 August 2017)
  • 
    (Congressional Research Service report R44452, Version 9 updated 29 January 2019)
  • Columns and radio commentaries by Paul Jacob:
    • Leave Those Kids Alone (19 April 2018)
    • Junk the Law (20 January 2016)
    • Aspirational Involuntary Servitude (TownHall.com, 14 February 2016)
    • Needless List? (19 February 2016)
    • Video: Ron Paul on Conscription (26 December 2015)
  • Talking Points on Selective Service (Draft) Registration for the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service
    (Center on Conscience & War)
  • Selective Service Registration: Coercion of Conscience
    (by Bill Galvin and Maria Santelli of the Center on Conscience & War, 24 February 2016)
  • Women and Draft Cards: Feel the Burn
    (by Gene Keyes, Daily Kos, 15 February 2016)
  • Draft Registration Has Hurt American Men for Decades. Now It May Hurt Women, Too.
    (by Max J. Rosenthal, Mother Jones, 17 June 2016. "The Senate has approved making women register, but plenty of people want to get rid of the Selective Service system altogether.")
  • You Don't Have to Wear a Military Uniform to Serve Your Country
    (by retired U.S. Army General Stanley A. McChrystal, The Atlantic, 20 July 2016)
  • Could National Service Bridge Our Partisan Divides?
    (by Chris Bodenner, The Atlantic, 20 July 2016)
  • Building a F.A.S.T. Force: A Flexible Personnel System for a Modern Military
    (by the Bipartisan Policy Center, March 2017. Recommendations include: "Enhance and expand the Selective Service System to include all young American adults. Require Selective Service registrants to complete the military vocational aptitude test.")
  • National service can unite America
    (Op-ed by former member of Congress Dan Glickman, Bipartisan Policy Center, TheHill.com, 29 October 2018)
  • The Draft: The Disconnect between the U.S. Military, Its Wars, and the American Public
    (by Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken, Dissident Voice, 22 April 2011)
  • Hell, no! We still won't go!
    ("War Resisters League calls for renewed resistance to conscription and militarism", June 2009)
  • Talking about the draft
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, WIN Magazine, Summer 2010)
  • Refuse, Resolve, Resist
    ("WIN Letter", WIN Magazine, Summer 2010)
  • Who Will Fight These Wars?
    (by Marguerite Helen and Edward Hasbrouck, Peacework magazine, March 2003)
  • Public vs. Quiet Resistance
    (by Erica Leigh and Edward Hasbrouck, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, 10 October 2018)
  • It's time to abolish the Selective Service and end the draft
    (Editorial, The Denver Post, 11 February 2016)
  • End, Don't Extend, the Draft
    (by Sheldon Richman, Reason, 11 February 2016. "Some misguided people will argue that if men must register, then fairness dictates that women must register too. It's an odd notion of fairness or justice, however. Compulsory draft registration is unfair because it violates young people's rights. Therefore, extending the unfairness cannot be fair. The only fair measure would be to abolish registration and never draft anyone again.")
  • Just Say No to Draft Registration for Women -- and Men
    (by Thomas Knapp, Antiwar.com, 15 February 15, 2016. "Testifying before the US Senate's Armed Services Committee in early February, Generals Mark A. Milley (the US Army's chief of staff) and Robert B. Neller (commandant of the US Marine Corps) endorsed extending mandatory Selective Service registration to women. Because, you know, equality. I have a better idea. It's time to end draft registration for everyone. Because, you know, freedom.")
  • Draft Registration Will Be Either Ended or Imposed on Women
    (by David Swanson, Let's Try Democracy, 26 February 2019)
  • Draft Resistance and Prison
    (by John Bach, in "Friends and the Vietnam War", Pendle Hill, 1998. "The treatment afforded to women in the anti-war movement was too many times dismissive, unjust, and lecherous. I would have my sisters know that many of us regret and repent. We live and learn and hopefully get better. This is what distinguishes us form our government.")
  • Top generals say women should be required to register for the draft - but we should instead abolish registration for men
    (Op-Ed by Ilya Somin, Volokh Conspiracy, Washington Post, 2 February 2016)
  • Don't make women register for the draft. Just end draft registration for everyone.
    (Op-Ed by Christopher Preble, Cato Institute, Washington Post, 5 February 2016; also reprinted by the Cato Institute)
  • Including Women Is Not The Right Next Step For Selective Service
    (by Carl Forsling, Task & Purpose, 5 January 2016; "The Selective Service system is an antiquated relic of a bygone era and should be eliminated for all Americans.... Another thing this gives the opportunity to fix is maintaining the dubious fantasy that the U.S. will ever return to a draft. Rather than double down on the Selective Service mistake by including women, let's use this opportunity to stop lying to ourselves.")
  • The United States Still Needs Draft Registration
    (by Mark F. Cancian, Task & Purpose, 25 February 2016; "Eliminating registration would send the wrong signal to Americans as well as our enemies.... Draft registration also sends a message to prospective adversaries. It shows that the United States has a great reservoir of personnel that it can draw from in an emergency.")
  • The Hard Questions About the Selective Service Have Nothing to Do With Women in Combat
    (by Katherine Kidder, War on the Rocks, 12 February 2016; "Perhaps the question isn't whether or not women should have to register for Selective Service -- but whether Selective Service should exist at all.... Representative Hunter is concerned that the full inclusion of women in combat positions will affect combat effectiveness. Yet a much larger threat to an effective U.S. military is the influx of conscripts into the force.")
  • Time to abolish Selective Service
    (by Benjamin Powell, Ph.D., The Hill, 6 January 2016)
  • Editorial: Time to End Selective Service
    (The Virginian-Pilot, 6 March 2016)
  • Editorial: Women in combat raises questions about draft
    (Sidney [OH] Daily News, 23 December 2015; "Should women be required to register for selective service? No -- and neither should men.")
  • Don't extend draft registration to women; end it for men
    (syndicated column by by Paul F. de Lespinasse, Ph.D., Vallejo Times-Herald and elsewhere, 18 December 2015)
  • David Swanson and Daniel Ellsberg
    (San Francisco Public Library, 28 May 2016. Ellsberg at 1:25:25 of video: "Despite the fact that the draft did account for large rallies, it also was essential to a large war. And I think that if we got the draft back, in other words if we started drafting people we'd have a much larger military, and I believe that we would -- dangerous and wrongful as it is for us to be operating with special forces in many, many countries around the world -- if we were operating with brigades and divisions.... then what'll go with that is a hell of a lot more bombing than you've seen yet. With the American troops would come bombing of the local country on a vastly greater scale.... The fact is that the overall scale would be enormously greater. A draft, I'm afraid, would facilitate that. That's one lesson from Vietnam.")
  • Kerry expresses reservations about nation's all-volunteer military
    (by Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, Austin American-Statesman, 27 April 2016)
  • Draft a new solution: Registration's problems go beyond inequality
    (Editorial by Tim Huber, Mennonite World Review, 6 June 2016)
  • In honor of Muhammad Ali, Sen. Rand Paul will introduce bill to end Selective Service
    (by Nick Storm, CN2 Louisville TV news, 6 June 2016; includes embedded video interview with Sen. Paul.)
  • Selective Service serves no purpose
    (by Bridget Bush, Columnist, Louisville Courier-Journal, 14 June 2016)
  • Solomon Amendment found unconstitutional
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 27 January 2009)
  • Before blogs caught it, Obama site told of requiring students to serve
    (WorldNetDaily, 8 November 2008)
  • Obama's chief of staff choice favors compulsory universal service
    (by J.D. Tuccille, The Examiner, 6 November 2008)
  • The plausibly deniable draft - Obama's very modern take on national service
    (by J.D. Tuccille, The Examiner, 17 September 2008)
  • Obama, McCain, and draft registration ("Selective Service")
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 8 September 2008)
  • The Draft Debate Heats Up
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, The Nonviolent Activist, January 2005)
  • MLTF Statement on the Draft
    (National Lawyers Guild - Military Law Task Force, 5 December 2006)
  • USA House of Representatives votes down military draft. So what?
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 5 October 2004)
  • Pelosi begs my question on the draft
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 28 October 2004; includes link to video)
  • Muddled Thinking About Conscription
    (by Rick Jahnkow, Draft NOtices, January-March 2007)
  • End Draft Registration!
    (by Sheldon Richman, 29 December 2006)
  • Americans Reject Reinstating the Military Draft
    (poll results attributed to CBS News, 18 March 2006)
  • Dodging The Word "Draft": Support grows for beefing up U.S. forces; Some see situations where volunteers may not be enough
    (San Francisco Chronicle, 4 April 2005, page A-1)
  • Exposing the Coming Draft
    (by Tom Reeves, CounterPunch, 19 March 2005)
  • Collateral Damage: Draft Resistance & the Anti-War Movement
    (by Chris Clarke, Coyote Crossing, 18 July 2006; incorporates an earlier article first published by CounterPunch, 25 January 2003)
  • Counter-recruitment and the draft
    (letter to the editor by Edward Hasbrouck, S.F. Weekly, 2 November 2005)
  • Shelter Under the Anti-war Umbrella
    (by David Solnit, AlterNet, 18 February 2005)
  • Poll: 29% of young voters would resist a draft
    (15 October 2004)
  • If we don't need a draft, why have registration?
    (editorial, Philadelphia Daily News, 18 October 2004)
  • Selective Disservice: The Indefensible Discrimination of Draft Registration
    (by William A. Kamens, 52 American University Law Review 703-759, 2003)

• Women, the draft, and draft registration

• The medical draft ("Health Care Personnel Delivery System")

• Financial aid for nonregistrants

  • Fund for Education and Training (FEAT)
    "Assisting individuals who believe it is wrong to register for the draft" with alternatives to Federal financial aid denied to nonregistrants.
  • Student Aid Fund for Nonregistrants
    "To help replace potential government grants and loans lost by students who for reasons of Christian conscience choose not to register with the U.S. Selective Service System." Limited to Mennonites or any nonregistrant attending a Mennonite college.
  • Alternative Aid for Nonregistrants
    (partial listing of alternatives to Federal government financial aid, including dedicated funds for nonregistrants)

• Draft resistance history since 1980

  
  [Crowd at the West Coast mobilization against the draft and draft registration listens to speakers including Fred Moore of the National Resistance Committee. Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco, 22 March 1980. Photos by Chris Booth for Resistance News.]

  • Prosecutions of Draft Registration Resisters in the USA since 1980
    (includes final verdicts, sentences, and results of appeals in all 20 cases; also includes links to GAO audits and Selective Service System reports on compliance with registration)
  • Government admits resistance made draft registration unenforceable
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 3 May 2016. Includes links to interviews with current and former Selective Service officials by U.S. News & World Report)
  • Former Selective Service director admits draft registration has failed
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 20 December 2017. Includes excerpts and link to interview with former SSS Director Bernard Rostker by the Washington Post)
  • History of draft registration and draft resistance since 1980
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, updated June 2016)
  • Extend draft registration to women -- or end it?
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, 11 December 2015; also reprinted or excerpted by permission and with updates and variations by the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD), the San Diego Free Press, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Jewish Peace Fellowship, and elsewhere.)
  • Why do some people resist the draft?
    (by Edward Hasbrouck)
  • A Call for Resistance
    (Founding statement of purpose of the National Resistance Committee, 2 March 1980)
  • Draft resistance and the politics of identity and status
    (by Edward Hasbrouck, in We Have Not Been Moved: Resisting Racism and Militarism in 21st Century America, edited by Elizabeth Betita Martinez, Mandy Carter, and Matt Meyer, October 2012, published by PM Press and the War Resisters League)
  • Letters to the editor in the New York Times about draft registration and resistance:
    • On the Failures of Draft Registration
      (letter to the editor by Edward Hasbrouck from Lewisburg [PA] Federal Prison Camp, 21 March 1984: "The issue for Congress and the American people is the failure of draft registration: After almost four years of registration, a million of those eligible haven't registered.... In such circumstances, it is absurd to think that reinstatement of the draft is a realistic possibility, and it is dangerously naive to make foreign policy commitments that will require a draft.")
    • A Consensus in Support of Draft Registration (1)
      (letter to the editor by Wil Ebel, Assistant Director of Selective Service for Public Affairs, 23 March 1984: "Edward Hasbrouck's letter assailing draft registration is woefully in error. Perhaps we should not expect an incarcerated individual to have accurate and up-to-date information, but your readers should not be deluded by Mr. Hasbrouck's misrepresentations. Draft registration is not a failure.")
    • A Consensus in Support of Draft Registration (2)
      (letter to the editor by Rep. Gerald Solomon: "Edward Hasbrouck called the Solomon Amendment, which denies student aid to those who refuse to register for the draft, 'a failure.' The real failure is his inability to separate constitutional rights from taxpayer-financed privileges. We're hearing a lot these days about 'yuppies,' the young urban professionals from the baby boom now on the cusp of political and economic power. I'd hate to think they still cling to the 'me generation' notion that the working taxpayers of this country owe them a college education and upward mobility.... If I had my way, those who do not register would lose not only the 'right' to a student loan but every other taxpayer-funded benefit.")
    • Courageous Foes of Draft Registration
      (letter to the editor by Marjorie Baechler, 7 April 1984: "The remark by Wil Ebel of the Selective Service System that 'perhaps we should not expect an incarcerated individual to have accurate and up-to-date information'... is an attempt to demean Edward Hasbrouck... and all of us who share conscientious objection to the settling of disputes through the violence of war.")
    • We Still Won't Go!
      (letter to the editor by Edward Hasbrouck, 9 December 1990; PDF of print version as leaflet. "Only 20 nonregistrants were ever prosecuted, the last almost five years ago. The attempt to enforce registration has been abandoned, essentially in failure, while millions continue not to register.")
  • Life Outside the Mainframe
    (about Fred Moore, editor of Resistance News and one of the coordinators of the National Resistance Committee)
  • Bernie and Me
    (by Alex Reyes, Eastern Regional Director and Washington, DC, representative of the National Resistance Committee; note that this is about Bernard Rostker, former Director of Selective Service, and not about Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders)
  • Courage Under Fire: Resistance to War
    (Interview with Edward Hasbrouck beginning at 20:10, National Radio Project, 2004; background)
  • A Conversation with Draft Resisters from the Vietnam War Era and Resisters from the Early 1980s
    (Video outtake from the documentary film planned for release in 2017, The Boys Who Said No)
  • POEM: Attorney General Edwin Meese III
    (by Dan Rutt, 20 August 2015. Blog post includes a poem written in prison in 1987, and more reflections on draft registration resistance.)
  • Protesters proud of actions opposing draft: Today, he's convinced it was the right thing to do.
    (Connecticut Post, Sunday, 3 September 2006)
  • Unrepentant Resister: Looking Back 20 Years to my Draft Resistance Trial
    (by Andy Mager, Syracuse Peace Council Newsletter, February 2005)
  • Costs of a Flimsy Card
    (by Michael Wehle, The Progressive, April 1987)
  • Draft Resistance, 80's Style
    (profile of 1980's draft resister Ben Sasway by 1960's draft resister and New York Times staff writer David Harris, The New York Times Magazine, 22 August 1982, comparing draft resistance in the 1960's and in the 1980's)
  • Nothing About the Draft Makes Sense
    (by William Greider, Rolling Stone, 30 September 1982. "Registration is not working.... [H]undreds of thousands are not signing up. Collectively, they confront the government with one of the grossest episodes of mass defiance of the law since Americans decided to drink their way through Prohibition. In this case as well, the only practical solution is repeal." See also William Greider's 1981 Rolling Stone profile of draft registration resisters Matt Meyer, Matt Nicodemus, and Edward Hasbrouck, not available online.)
  • Men and Women Who Dare to Say No
    (history of Mennonite resistance to draft registration, 1980-1985)
  • When Law and Conscience Conflict: The Draft Nonregistration Case of U.S. v. Mark Arden Schmucker
    (by one of Mark Schmucker's attorneys; published as a chapter in the the court's officially-commissioned history of its notable cases, pp. 266-288)
  • Rally at noon
    (editorial in the Daily Princetonian during the tenure of current Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan as chair of the editorial board, 12 February 1980)
  • Resist Registration
    (editorial in the Harvard Crimson, 8 January 1981. "It isn't often [the government] decides to give large parts of the population an opportunity to show their displeasure with the country's foreign policy. This week, though, the government has called on all 18-year-old men to register for the draft. It is an opportunity not to be missed. We urge those called upon to register to refuse, and to refuse loudly.")
  • Why I Refuse to Register
    (Op-Ed by Paul Jacob, first published 17 May 1985, The Orange County Register)
  • Who is Ed Hasbrouck, and why is he bucking the system?
    (by Melinda Macauley, The Townsman, Wellesley, MA, 9 December 1982, pp 10-11)
  • Who Is Edward Hasbrouck?
    (background to my draft registration resistance and other political activism)
  • National Resistance Committee archives
    (Swarthmore College Peace Collection)
  • Stanford Against Conscription records, 1979-1985
    (Stanford University Archives)
  • Reawakening resistance to draft registration: some implications for the 1980's.
    (by Lieutenant Paul Joseph Jackson, U.S. Navy, December 1980. A bizarre and confused but nonetheless interesting master's thesis by a student/researcher from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, who infiltrated meetings and collected literature from Northern California draft resistance and draft counseling organizations in 1980. "The objectives of this research are (1) To determine who the leaders of the local draft registration meetings are; (2) To determine the extent of their support at these meetings; (3) To gather data on the alternatives to draft registration offered at these meetings as well as in current anti-draft literature; (4) To gather data on the effectiveness of such meetings in convincing draft-age youth not to register or to register under protest; (5) To offer predictions, based on the history of draft resistance in America and on the observations made above, on the impact of such groups on future attempts to bring back the draft.")
  • I Want You! The Evolution of the All-Volunteer Force
    (by Bernard Rostker, ISBN 0-8330-3896-6, RAND Corporation, 2006, free e-book or PDF download. Now on the staff of the RAND Corporation, Rostker was Director of the Selective Service System from 1979-192. Despite its obvious self-interest, this book is the most detailed and revealing "insider" memoir of the reinstatement of draft registration in 1980. Rostker left the Selective Service System in 1982, and his memoir makes no mention of the aborive attempt at prosecution of nonregistrants that followed.)
  • Selective Service System "Channeling" memorandum, 1965
    (Also available as a PDF as reprinted by the Resistance, c. 1968. One of the few pre-1980 documents on this Web site, but reproduced here because of its enduring influence and because the full document, while often mentioned, isn't readily available elsewhere.)

• Prosecutions of draft registration resisters since 1980