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This is a sticky matter - a soldier asking not to, or refusing to, participate in a particular conflict akin, is it not, to a prizefighter saying that fighting is wrong, at least sometimes. It is rife with implications on our very ideas of duty, responsibility, and even, some might argue, moral relativism. The questions that seem just begging to be answered have to do with commitment, and principal, and growth, and the essence of humanity. Yes! I dare to continue even though I see this as a gateway into a discourse on life's most profound and allegedly unanswerable queries.

Let's begin by asking the most important question that faces new or would-be armed forces personnel: "What is a citizen's motive, *MY* motive, for doing military service?" In an all-volunteer military, what is it that a soldier, air(man), sailor, or marine agrees to when joining? I am certain that the chasm between the two is wider than many realize or admit, and that for some, the notion of such a chasm is absurd, trite, or even nave. I am equally certain that the inevitable discovery that this notion is true is a sucker-punch to one's sense of self, if not a moral crisis outright.

And yet, nothing is more urgent, for an individual or indeed the whole of society, than to ponder and ANSWER! the dilemma that surfaces. A service member has no doubt decided that s/he is willing to die for his country if these are the tragic ends to which her service comes. Yes he would give his life. But that is not the pivotal matter. No what our and most military institutions are asking prospective warriors to decide is this: would they kill? Our leadership, the masses, and indeed our very culture is expecting these folks, many of them 18 and 19 year old men and women motivated by a spirit of patriotism, service, sacrifice, and the well intentioned ideal of defending freedom, to know whether or not they could and then commit to, if circumstances require! take another human life.

I ask right here and right now how on earth we can EVER look ourselves in the mirror when we would idealize and institutionalize such gung-ho impulsiveness and sense of invulnerability, and call it an honorable thing. This "never say die!" mantra, when washed into the minds of new fighting machines in the making, so often already bestowed with an "I *can't* die" default defense mechanism, is a powerful narcotic. Combined with the pressures and rewards of group-think, and a very narrow perspective on right and wrong, this is indeed

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