Stardate 20011018.0601 (On Screen via long range sensors): With the start of hostilities, there is a sudden increase in the number of active-duty military personnel asking for honorable discharges on the grounds that they are conscientious objectors. I am having an extremely hard time being sympathetic with this: many are arguing that they were deceived by the advertising which promised training and money for college, and thus didn't realize that they were signing up to actually fight in a war if need be. Yup, they joined the army and didn't know that the army sometimes actually fights wars. If they had been drafted, there might conceivably be some justification for this, but the US hasn't drafted anyone for the military since 1972. All the people we're discussing here were volunteers.
One of the more troubling aspects of this is that most of them are asking for honorable discharges. If granted, it means these people would be entitled to veterans benefits for the rest of their lives. Life imitates art: this sounds uncannily like a Monty Python sketch between Eric Idle and Graham Chapman. While it is probably not desirable to keep these people in, there is no way they should be given honorable discharges. There's nothing honorable about any of this. (discuss)
