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Recently, military conscription has been a hot topic to debate in Morocco. In fact, the
debate mainly concerns the law of compulsory military service as the government is willing
to draft any Moroccan liable citizen aged at least 18 years old to undergo 18 months of
military instruction. It aims at preparing the country for any unexpected attack especially
from Algeria. According to the World Factbook (2002), Algeria has spent “4.1% of its GDP
on military,” (p. 1). As a result, the Moroccan decision makers promptly came with the
conclusion that Algeria is getting ready for a war against its neighbor and they immediately
devoted large sums of money to buy new weapons and recruit new soldiers as a preparation
for an approaching conflict. Actually, the government is strongly convinced that the only
road open to ensure security and defense of the country is to have a ready and well-trained
reserve army. There is no doubt that protecting the homeland is every citizen's sacred duty. It
is a moral and constitutional obligation that must be respected and fulfilled when necessary.
According to the article 16 of the Moroccan constitution (1996), “All citizens shall contribute
to the defense of the country,” (p. 3). Besides, the question of territorial defense and interior
peace of a nation is above all claims. However, Morocco is not endangered by any foreign
threat, but by inner political and economic problems that need a real popular conscription. In
this respect, military conscription should be optional because it is harmful to the welfare of
the Moroccan society as a whole.
Compulsory military service involves a continual and severe violation of human
rights. Such a violation is unacceptable in any other field of life in a modern and young
democracy such as Morocco. According to the letter to the members of the Norwegian Nobel
Committee (2001), “ Conscription is today’s slavery. It violates human rights, and
furthermore, nowadays it is on the decline. In recent history, conscription was regularly
accompanied by mass-armies and cruel mass-killing wars; it is a threat to peace,” (p. 1). If
one thinks deeply about the fact that this institution strictly controls almost every aspect of a
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citizen's life, then one can't deny that this is a modern form of real slavery since it prescribes
when and what to eat, how to dress, who to greet and how, who to obey, who to share a room
with and where. Second the right to self-ownership must be supreme in a free nation, since
without it there is no justification for government or laws at all. In other words, if one does
not own his body, then murder should not be a crime and money should not be there to spend.
Economically speaking, military conscription represents an additional burden on the
Moroccan economy. The government spends a lot of money on conscription that might be
invested in different fields for the welfare of the society. For instance, instead of buying
equipment and uniforms for draftees and spend money on them, the government can invest in
profitable projects like building infrastructure to attract foreign investments. In addition, a
conscripted army does not allow economic transparency because of the hidden and
complementary costs. As expenditures on military issues are usually kept secret, it is not
possible to audit or control people in charge of these expenditures. Besides, the government
usually increases all kind of taxes at the expense of businesses and individuals in order to be
able to finance these additional expenses allocated for draftees.
Military conscription will be of no use as draftees will be uninterested and inefficient
in this task. It is of no doubt that military men who can adapt to system changes within the
context of weaponry are needed. Short-term draftees would not be particularly skilled at
using modern military technology. Ron, P. (2001) states “Recruiting students and vagrants is
of no use to a competitive military, since both groups are uninterested in active duty. By
contrast, a volunteer army--assuming the country needs any army at all--will yield those with
an interest in serving their country and those who seek the military as a place to get that
necessary step up into a better life,” (p. 2). It is widely agreed that a man controls his own
actions, and all efforts to force him to do what he desires not to do are useless. Hence,
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compulsory military service will not be appealing to either students nor even to unemployed
youth.
On a social level, military conscription is surely more expensive than on the economic
level. First, it widens the gap between the different classes making up the Moroccan society.
That is to say, it worsens the economic situation of low social classes to which conscripted
soldiers often belong. This is because conscripted soldiers receive symbolic salaries while
their families depend on their income to a great extent. In fact, it is immoral that the state
requires a service from its citizens and takes it even forcefully without providing any
rewards. Second, compulsory military service can be a source of corruption in the country. In
this context, some liable citizens can escape military service if they have the financial means
to give bribes or if they have good connections with people in the military institution.
Clearly, all this will lead to more discrimination and sharp divisions within the Moroccan
society.
Military conscription is not only expensive at the social level but also at the cultural
level. Actually, this forced conscription plays a major role in gradually changing the cultural
values and norms of the Moroccan society. For instance, some of the prevailing values such
as peace upon which the Moroccan society is based are being altered and changed through
military conscription. In other words, since weapons, arms and all military gadgets are not
part of the Moroccan society, draftees and their families find it difficult to accept the idea of
staying 18 months within an unusual military context. According to the letter to the members
of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (2001), “ Currently, many people consider conscription
inhuman, outdated, superfluous, and a great shame for humankind,” (p. 1).
To sum up, Morocco is a nation growing in population, expanding in economy and
improving in its political and diplomatic strategies. Each day this nation stands more
powerfully than the previous day, and it is this improvement that will enable it to gain more
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weight within this world. Given that military conscription hinders this progress as it violates
human rights, exhausts the economy and harms the social and cultural makeup of the country,
it should be optional.
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References
Letter to the members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (2001). Retrieved April 24, 2003
from http://www.c3.hu/~farkashe/english/nobel.html
Ron, P. (2001). Speech in the House of Representatives. Retrieved April 24, 2003, from
http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr061301B.htm.
The Constitution (1996). Retrieved April 24, 2003 from
http://www.mincom.gov.ma/english/generalities/state_st/constitution.htm.
The World Factbook (2002). Retrieved April 24, 2003 from
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ag.html - Military.