I have enjoyed reading all the listed comments. As a whole, they seem to represent sincere efforts at resolving a difficult problem: unchecked war.

SGT AUDIE MURPHY asks an interesting question: out of those making comments, how many have served. I, for one, applied for conscientious objection during the war in Vietnam. Now I have the great privilege and honor to talk with young people, many of whom are enlisted in the military, about conscientious objection. I'll let the reader decide if this qualifies as serving the country. I simply ask that before a judgment about that is made, please understand that conscientious objection, as it is defined by the Department of Defense of the United States, is an objection to participation in all foreseeable wars by reasons of religious or deeply held moral and ethical beliefs.

Why would the Department of Defense honor Conscientious Objection? They say that someone who objects to participation in ALL wars in a “non-selective� objector. And they say that those who object to SOME wars is a “selective� objector. I may be reading too much into the name of the Selective Service System, but I think that the implication is that the Department of Defense derives its moral standing by being based on the (debatable) premise that some wars are justified, and some are not. What DoD does by recognizing Conscientious Objectors, in my mind, is to identify itself with religious and deeply held moral and ethical belief.

And isn’t that American? Isn’t it in the service of our country that we hold up religious and deeply held moral and ethical beliefs as guidance for when we go to war, and when we don’t? In other words, without Conscientious Objection, without recognition for religious and deeply held moral and ethical belief, where would our moral standing be when we charge to war? When the DoD grants an honorable discharge to a GI for reasons of Conscientious Objection, the Department takes a real action, not just words, to say, “Even in war, we honor religious and deeply held moral and ethical beliefs, if sincerely held.�

This most noble honor is rarely practiced by the Department of Defense. However, the basis in law is there, and I cannot think of a better way to serve my country than to promote it.