Cox & Forkum cartoon from the 2004 election cycle. Back when demorats where scaring young people into believing Bush would reinstate the draft if elected.
Posted on 11/19/2006 10:30:36 AM PST by Brilliant
A senior House Democrat said Sunday he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft, asserting that current troop levels are insufficient to sustain possible challenges against Iran, North Korea and Iraq.
"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.
Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose the measure early next year.
At a time when some lawmakers are urging the military to send more troops to Iraq, "I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft," he said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), a South Carolina Republican who is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Standby Reserve, said he agreed that the U.S. does not have enough people in the military.
"I think we can do this with an all-voluntary service, all-voluntary Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. And if we can't, then we'll look for some other option," said Graham, who is assigned as a reserve judge to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.
Rangel, incoming chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he worried the military was being strained by its overseas commitments.
"If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft," Rangel said.
He said having a draft would not necessarily mean everyone called to duty would have to serve. Instead, "young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to this great republic, whether it's our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals," with a promise of educational benefits at the end of service.
Graham said he believes the all-voluntary military "represents the country pretty well in terms of ethnic makeup, economic background."
Repeated polls have shown that about seven in 10 Americans oppose reinstatement of the draft and officials say they do not expect to restart conscription.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress in June 2005 that "there isn't a chance in the world that the draft will be brought back."
Yet the prospect of the long global fight against terrorism and the continuing U.S. commitment to stabilizing Iraq have kept the idea in the public's mind.
The military drafted conscripts during the Civil War, both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. An agency independent of the Defense Department, the Selective Service System trains, keeps an updated registry of men age 18-25 — now about 16 million — from which to supply untrained draftees that would supplement the professional all-volunteer armed forces.
Rangel and Graham appeared on "Face the Nation" on CBS.
Cox & Forkum cartoon from the 2004 election cycle. Back when demorats where scaring young people into believing Bush would reinstate the draft if elected.
On which side? :)
Seems that military service hasn't helped him at all.
There was a different mid set during WW2, I recall watching some of the men who were members of the real Band of Brothers and they said that some of the guys in their neighborhoods who were qualified as 4F, killed themselves because of the shame.
Yes, of course. It's simply a ploy to get millions of people to pay attention, freak out and speak out against the war.
Life is going to be grand for the next eight years until the dems are removed from the leadership roles in the House.
Nixon ended the draft, Carter reinstated the draft.
No different than certain Republicans (not you, but you know who I mean) agitating to bring back the draft as some kind of social experiment. "We need to get the kids away from their PlayStations and Nintendos and teach them how hard it was in 1943! That'll straighten them out! Never mind family structures, media influences, or public morality, the draft is good for what ails ya!"
The draft, as a descendant of the militia and the fyrd, exists to levy troops for military purposes only. It's not there to provide jobs to youths, to instill values, to beautify the environment, or to increase social cohesion. It exists -- when it does -- to provide a surge of man-power for the enterprise of breaking things and killing people.
Other societies do have a perpetual draft, and that works for them, but that doesn't mean it will work in the highly-individualistic American culture. The draft denies individuals a great deal of their freedom, sometimes their lives; infringing on liberty to this degree requires a great deal of justification. No draft supporter from either side has justified the idea to my satisfaction.
IMHO, YMMV.
Play with fire and you're going to get burned
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
From http://www.sss.gov/:
ATTENTION, UNDOCUMENTED MALES
& IMMIGRANT SERVICING GROUPS!
If you are a man ages 18 through 25 and living in the U.S., then you must register with Selective Service. It’s the law. You can register at any U.S. Post Office and do not need a social security number. When you do obtain a social security number, let Selective Service know. Provide a copy of your new social security number card; include your complete name, date of birth, Selective Service registration number, and current mailing address; and mail to the Selective Service System, P.O. Box 94636, Palatine, IL 60094-4636.
Be sure to register before your 26th birthday. After that, it’s too late!
Selective Service does not collect any information which would indicate whether or not you are undocumented. You want to protect yourself for future U.S. citizenship and other government benefits and programs by registering with Selective Service. Do it today.
I look [or try to look] further than the draft numerical requirements vis. the numbers in the male age cohort. Increased societal cohesion means, among other things, that it would become increasingly difficult to lose a war - be it Vietnam war or WOT - through the domestic media. I look for the societal benefits primarily in this area. And the army would not be that large, either - ca. 3 million, with 2 yrs service.
And this was a major impetus of grade inflation. Schools harboring people and being downgraded to keep those who didn't want to be there but didn't want to be drafted.
Unintended consequences stink.
Bump leadpenny!
My Dad recieved a medical discharge during WW2, and you are quite correct; the shame of it endured in our family for at least 40 years. As an aside, he was tall and very skinny, and they thought he had some condition that would kill him in a few years. Just what that condition was, was never said (To me anyway ). He's still alive now, and 88.
Then double the pay. Unless you want an army thats nothing but a social welfare Peace Corp, like the European armies. Thinking we'll go back to the army of the WWII is idiotic.
Why is that?
The Border Patrol has enough problems with corruption from people volunteering. The last thing we need is draftees.
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