September 11, 2001, marked an unforgettable (and unforgivable) day in the history of the United States of America, the day we declared war on terrorism. It also marked the three-month countdown to my eighteenth birthday...just in time to register for the selective service. Registration was nothing that I was looking forward to. I had worked my ass off my entire life so that I could earn an outstanding education and maintain a successful future. I'd be damned if I got drafted and had my whole life's progress to my goals thrown away on a stupid war that I had nothing to do with in the first place. "But you'd be dying for your country," they said. I DON'T WANT TO DIE FOR MY COUNTRY! I WANT TO LIVE IN IT!

Well, so far there hasn't been a draft, but now we face two wars: the terrorism war and that on Iraq. The likelihood of initiating a military draft is increasing with every new country involved. We could very well have a World War III in the next ten years at this rate. And me being the oldest male in a family of four male children, that makes me a prime candidate for the draft! Lucky me.

With my new (virtually forced) interest in the US Selective Service System, I waded into research on the topic, mainly from the official website: http://www.sss.gov. I had always wondered, among other things, why women were not required to register. What I found out surprised me: women are not allowed to register. Now my question has morphed into "Why aren't women allowed to register for the draft?" I logged onto http://www.sss.gov/wmbkgr.htm to find out exactly why, and I couldn't agree more.

As it turns out, women were nearly drafted in WWII when the need for nurses was increasing. However, due to increasing numbers of volunteer nurses, the femanine draft was unneeded. In 1973, the selective service system was placed into a "deep standby" until Carter reinstated it in 1980, acknowledging the problems in Asia at the time. Carter wanted to ammend the MSSA (Military Selective Service Act) to include women in the registration. However, "the Supreme Court based its decision largely on DOD’s policy that excluded women from combat", thus it was declined due to the fact that "the purpose of registration was to create a pool of potential inductees for combat, [so in this case] males and females could be treated differently." [All information directly from http://www.sss.gov/wmbkgr.htm.]

I couldn't agree more. Most women are against war and fighting in the first place, and if they aren't against it, they'd still rather support the cause from afar, rather than on the ground level of the battle field. And for those women that do want to fight, it's safe to infer that the majority of these femanine freedom fighters are already enrolled in the military. So the drafting of women is not needed at all, especially considering there is plenty of males to register.

Who would win: an army of untrained men, or an army of untrained men and women? The former would. And the reason is simple. Men have a natural predisposition for battle. It's apparent in every species: the males of the herd or pack fight eachother and outsiders for food, water, shelter, and even mates. It's only natural that untrained men will defeat untrained women. Not to mention that statistically men are physically stronger than women, and more emotionally stable. (Don't get mad at me! I didn't create it that way!) So by this rational, by drafting women, you will be weakening the chain of the army, and the chances of that army winning will be greatly reduced. The only women that belong on the battle field are those women who have trained with the armed forces.

Many women argue that it is against the civil rights of women to exclude them from registration. But if women were indeed allowed the option to register, well that wouldn't be equal to the men that have no choice but to register. This is an all or nothing deal: either all females must register or none must register--there is no choice about it. For the sake of those who are truly femanine, it's better that females are not allowed to at all. Women, would you honestly rather be federally forced to register for the draft as men are simply to keep consistent civil rights? I didn't think so. If you ask me, as far as equality goes, you get the better end of the stick. You get the same rights with less responsibility. But, again I say, if you insist on fighting in a war, nobody is stopping you from joining the military.

Untrained soldiers have no place in battle. However, I acknowledge that there are certain times of crisis in which extra manpower is required, and we must devert to calling our own young, able civilian men for a helping hand, if anything to draw fire and act as a shield for those trained professionals who can get the job done. This is no place, whatsoever, for women who lack the proper miliary know-how. So women, go train if you must, but otherwise stay out of the war zone.