And abolish the American selective service while you're at it.
Chile, which otherwise is a very civilized and free country, has compulsory militia service, also known as a military draft. Recently, some slave soldiers were forced to march into a blizzard in the Andes. Many froze to death.
Now some Catholic officials and the Chilean Network of Conscientious Objectors are making a heroic drive to end the draft:
"SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) -- Catholic officials said Chile's policy of mandatory military service should be changed in the wake of the deaths of 45 soldiers during a blizzard in the Andes Mountains in southern Chile. Those who froze to death on the Antuco volcano in mid-May were mostly new recruits who lacked the experience and equipment to survive the harsh conditions, observers said. The group was forced to march in the blizzard at the orders of an army major, despite the objections of mid-level officers. "Public opinion on obligatory recruitment has changed after Antuco. Now is the time for a more profound discussion of the issue, which, hopefully, will lead to the elimination of the obligatory draft altogether. A modern army cannot be based on recruits that must be trained year after year, and in poor conditions," said theologian Alvaro Ramis Olivos, a Catholic and president of the Chilean Network of Conscientious Objectors, an alliance of religious and human rights groups advocating the elimination of mandatory service and the establishment of conscientious objection. "
See this too.
