First Published: The Call, Vol. 9, No. 7, February 18, 1980.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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Recently The Call interviewed John Duffy, organizational secretary of the Communist Youth Organization (CYO), about the group’s view on the draft.
The Call: How does the CYO view the draft and the movement developing against it?
Duffy: Carter’s plans for registering 19 and 20-year-olds is a clever way to institute a full draft after elections. The reality is that there is no need for registration except to prepare for a draft, and no need for a draft except to prepare for war.
The anti-war sentiment of the youth has already shown itself in demonstrations from coast to coast. Anti-draft groups are popping up in every city. The CYO supports the movement and is active in building it.
But the question facing the movement is, on what basis should we oppose the draft so as to reach the majority of young people?
The world situation is not the same as it was during the U.S. invasion of Vietnam. Today the problem isn’t simply one of the U.S. trying to intervene in a third world country. Today there are two superpowers racing towards a new world war.
As many young people in the country recognize, the threat of world war and of Soviet domination is very real. The Soviets have used Cuban troops in Angola and Ethiopia, and now the USSR has invaded Afghanistan. A few months ago any talk of world war might have been disregarded as outrageous, but the reality is asserting itself.
To build a really broad anti-draft movement, this question of the Soviet plan of world domination must be spoken to.
In the movement there are even some forces who want to build it on the premise of support for the USSR. The Trotskyites, particularly the more influential SWP/YSA, as well as the revisionist CPUSA and their youth group the YWLL, have backed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They try to deny that the situation is leading to world war and instead say that it’s just the U.S. who wants to intervene in the third world.
The anti-draft, anti-war movement will never gain mass support unless it opposes invasions, intervention and enslavement when it’s carried out by either superpower.
Carter says his call for the draft is in reaction to the Soviet buildup. How does your view differ?
Carter is reacting to a real Soviet buildup. The myth of “detente” is being covered in the dust of Soviet tanks in Afghanistan. It’s hard for appeasement policies to prevail.
But there are big differences between our view and his. Carter is talking about “protecting U.S. vital interests” in the Mideast. The problem with this logic is that his goal isn’t to protect the independence of the third world countries, but to strengthen the U.S. and its dominance over this area. The youth of America are being called on to register today and be drafted tomorrow for the interests of Big Business.
And we differ with Carter completely on our demands for youth. Carter’s program for the youth is to use them as cannon fodder in the U.S.-Soviet rivalry. He offers us nothing in return.
Even Carter’s feeble gesture at a jobs program for minority youth is a farce. It will still leave one and a half million jobless.
Blacks are especially concerned, faced with the rapid growth of the Klan today. What is Carter offering them?
Because of Afghanistan, Carter expects to be given a free hand in forcing more cutbacks in social programs, unemployment benefits, in militarizing society and unleashing the FBI and CIA against people fighting the KKK and involved in other struggles. People are saying, “Hey, if we’re gonna fight, we’re gonna fight here for our freedom, not in Carter’s army.”
There are many steps available to Carter right now besides the draft. For example, the U.S. continues to supply the Soviets with technological and economic aid. If Carter wants to stop the Soviets, he should cut off all trade. Also, the U.S. has 40,000 troops in South Korea. Let him pull those out.
What about the call to register women?
This is a new feature of registration. While women continue to face inequality and can’t even get the ERA passed, they are being given the “equality” of serving the interests of U.S. monopolies through the armed forces. We are fully opposed to such fake equality.
The real question isn’t whether women should be drafted, but rather if anyone should be drafted at this time.
What is the CYO doing to oppose the draft?
The CYO has been active in building anti-draft coalitions in cities where we have chapters. We will be participating in the Committee Against Registration and the Draft nationwide and the national anti-draft rally March 22 in Washington, D.C., and will sponsor campus forums on the draft and the danger of war.
In the upcoming months, the CYO will help organize the 10th anniversary commemoration in May of the murder of four Kent State students protesting the war against the peoples of Indochina. The Kent program will be especially significant today with a new draft threatening.