U.S. non-profit advocating for conscientious objectors says calls are spiking

[BlueWavePsych]

Mike Prysner is the executive director of the Center on Conscience & War, which works with U.S. soldiers seeking conscience exemptions. Prysner says the organization has seen a massive spike in calls as the U.S.-Israel war against Iran intensifies.

From transcript ...

Well, uh, just to start, our hotline is ringing off the hook. You know, we typically handle about 50 to 80 clients per year. Since this war started, we have more than a 1,000% increase in new conscientious conscientious objector clients. Um, now we have about one per day. Uh, they come from a broad spectrum. We have officers from physicians to fighter jet pilots. We have lower to mid-ranking enlisted from infantrymen to intelligence personnel.

They're from the Navy, the Army, the Air Force, the Marines, people set to deploy soon, and those who are actually already in theater in the middle Middle East.

Well, anyone in the military has the right to file for conscientious objection. And you know, once you drop a conscientious objector packet, you know, the process takes several months, but as soon as you declare that you are a conscientious objector before they even begin to investigate it, your command is obligated to accommodate your beliefs.

[Igel]

1. So those who don't want to be drafted

are suddenly afraid of the draft?

That speaks to the utter existence of their concerns.

It's nonresponsive to the objective threat of a draft.

Says, "They scared."

Y nada mas.

[Ms. Toad]

2. There has been little reason to seek conscientious objector status since the draft was abolished.

The only threat between 1973 and now was registration for selective service. Unfortunately, conscientious objector status is not an option as to registration, so boys who don't register for selective service are blocked from a lot of scholarships - a standard that doesn't apply to girls.

As a member of a peace church, we occasionally get inquiries about the selective service - which is preparation for war, and against the beliefs of most conscientious objectors.

I have mixed feelings about those already in the military, but those not in the military would have had no reason to seek counsel on conscientious objector status in the last 5 decades. Were I in the age at which I might be drafted - I would be making calls. Not because all of a sudden I am afraid - but because until Trump started the war in Iran there was no possibility I would need to formalize my conscientious objection to war.