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A soldier has already made the greatest commitment to his/her country: the tacit agreement of laying down a life to protect others. To know you are likely to lose your life on any day of any week while you are doing the job you chose is not a comfortable feeling. But many people care about service so much, they willingly take up that career and cheerfully resign themselves to their deaths to play their part and make an impact. It is very rare that a soldier would actually protest about a war because wars are the raison d'etre for their training.

Therefore, that commitment of a life should should not be taken lightly, be manipulated, coerced or be squandered for political ends. The soldier should have the choice, on rare occasions, to opt out of a war if they passionately disagree with it and can demonstrate why.

Being a soldier is a lonely occupation away from the civilian community. Bonding is done with other soldiers to protect one another and encourage loyalty, bravery and self-preservation. Soldiers expect to support each other and go where they are sent. Naturally, if the system of preparation for fighting isn't to break down completely, there has to be discipline within the ranks. Each soldier has to obey their orders, otherwise any resistance simply weakens the unit and fosters low morale among those left behind. However, if a soldier has a very strong reason, whether on religious, cultural, social or other grounds, stemming from particular values they hold that would prevent them fighting a war, this desire should be respected and upheld.

Soldiers are not robots. They are people with thoughts, feelings, opinions and particular stances on issues. They are part of the community they serve so they will feel the same way as the folks they leave behind. Though they have to be objective in complying with their deployments, they are still feeling, thinking humans capable of making decisions for themselves. If they intrinsically believe that a conflict is wrong, or not in their nation's best interest and do not wish to fight, they should be allowed to opt out. The only situation where this wouldn't be allowed is in the case of a national call-up where serving the country is mandatory for certain people. But we are in times of volunteering for service out of choice, just like any other career. That right to opt out, to withdraw one's consent to fight a war which is a personal anathema, should be granted and respected.

Another key reason is that a person fighting a war they think is necessary will make a far better fighter, a stronger, more skilled and confident one, than someone fighting reluctantly or who feels coerced in what he/she is doing. They will be emotionally more in tune with what is required to help secure that victory instead of fighting with resentment and a feeling of impotence. When soldiers fight in wars they do not agree with, they have emotionally lost that battle in their heads before they begin because they are divided in their objective, fighting without beliefs and plagued by doubts.

Yet belief in the right and worth of any action we undertake is crucial to any success that we might wish to score. Such divisions merely make it harder all round for everyone involved at a time when brotherly solidarity and full appreciation of the enemy are the keys to success. Far better to allow the likely dissenters to opt out and have a stronger team left to fight than to leave them like rotten apples in the middle to spread doubt and confusion among the whole team.

Learn more about this author, Elaine Sihera.
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