Late last year, the Pentagon began filling vacancies in some 2,000 draft boards across the country. Although officials claim that this was merely a routine staffing, it begs the question: Why do we need draft boards? After all, the draft was ended by Congress in 1973, and to bring it back today would be unthinkable – right?

Perhaps not. With troop strength stretched thin throughout Afghanistan and Iraq, the military has already implemented a back-door draft, called “stop-loss,” which retains troops who were supposed to be discharged after their tours were over. So far, 40,000 troops have been prevented from going home, and a recent poll in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes indicates that half of the National Guardsmen and reservists in Iraq will not re-enlist once their service is over. Furthermore, the Bush administration has been ratcheting up criticism of Iran’s nuclear program, and as a charter member of the Axis of Evil, it’s not inconceivable to think Iran might be in the administration’s crosshairs. With a bill in each house of Congress calling for compulsory military service, the tools necessary to bring back the draft are being assembled.

So what would a draft mean to you? For starters, being enrolled in college would no longer exempt you from service, as the 1971 laws that ended school deferments are still on the books. Fleeing to Canada is no longer an option either, as the 2001 Smart Border Declaration would screen out draft-dodgers, and the FBI has offices in 45 countries around the globe to snare and extradite fleeing draftees.

For young people who think their votes don’t count, or for people who think that there’s no major difference between the two candidates, consider this: John Kerry has said repeatedly that America will never go to war unless it has to – while the Bush administration has outlined a doctrine of endless war. The Project For a New American Century, a conservative think tank whose members include the Pentagon’s Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, published a report in 2000 called “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” to which Bush has adhered closely as a foreign policy playbook. In addition to insisting upon regime change in Iraq, the report calls for America to “fight and win, as rapidly and decisively as possible, multiple, nearly simultaneous major theater wars.” If President Bush wins, we may be called upon to fight for the adolescent power fantasies of an administration whose grasp of the realities of war is no firmer than that of the average Nintendo gamer.

Conscription and invasion are the hallmarks of an empire, not a republic, and run contrary to the professed American values of democracy and self-determination. We’ve spent too much blood and treasure in the Middle East as it is, and the upcoming election presents us with a stark choice of how to proceed militarily. When you vote Nov. 2, keep in mind which candidate views war as a last resort and which views war as the weapon of choice. Your life just may depend upon it.

Columns reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of the Northern Star staff.