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.
You're close in your analysis. Think 'parenting' instead of 'dictator.' However, parents don't control kids today, the advertisers do. Too many parents allow their kids to be branded and these kids grow up to be totally brainwashed into thinking their life is horrible if they don't have the latest gadget or they don't have the newest car. Way too many teens and 20-30-somethings were raised by marketing agencies instead of their parents; and the parents are the ones who let that happen.
There was time in this country's history when young people waited in line for jobs (and sometimes food). Now they wait in line for toys and beg like they are in a bread line. Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?
Look at Europe, most countrie's armies there are via draft and they do NOTHING. Thats Rangel's goal. Why else would he be in favor of it?? (and all those other leftists)
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.
Well said. I'm all for the draft being an option in a time of military emergency, not as a back door to turning America into a modern Sparta or introducing something akin to mandatory AmeriCorps service. America wasn't founded as a regimented society under the control of the central government. We may need the draft again, but certainly not for the sake of Iraq, where the administration's goal is greater Iraqi self-reliance. This is just a transparent political ploy by Rangel, one which his fellow Democrats (especially those who fought against the draft in the Vietnam era) should be ashamed of.
Now that I have your attention, have you seen and heard this?
Speakers on - - Kleenex at the ready!
http://www.cpmsglife.org/tg/2006tdm1.html
(It's making the internet rounds and may be overloaded at times.)
Rangel and Stark and the rest of the neoMarxists would like nothing better than having idiots like Hegel and McCain fronting for them in their attempt to bring Vietnam type protests back in vogue. IMO, only nostalgiac numbskills would want an indifferent, potentially hostile, fifth column injected into our defense forces
It's not that I disagree with you, per se, it's just that I don't understand your point at all.
How would a draft "undo?"
What about the discipline of the military doing it's stuff? I still think Rangel is taking the easier-than-Bill-Cosby route. Military discipline may be the only thing to save a minority generation.
I agree...I would exempt pregnant folks...but I'm 50...in GREAT shape...and would serve, if called.
Kid.
Thinking we'll go back to the army of the WWII is idiotic.
Why is that?
To begin with, we're not fighting World War II; we're not fighting with World War II weapons, etc., systems; we're not fighting the World War II Axis; we're not fighting on World War II battlefields; we went into this war with an operational Army, not a cadre Army; we're performing a counterinsurgency mission, not a fastest-mostest decisive battle mission; we don't have the public support we had during World War II; and we don't have the international support we had during World War II.
They say generals always try to fight the last war. I guess armchair generals always try to fight World War II.
Hang in there, I know that you will!
You're full of crap!
Both of my married sons who work very hard and successfully to support their families stood in lines today. Not for the PS3, but for the new Wii system. This is their pasttime when not working or helping with the kids. My oldest makes his living as an artist for a PC/box game company and it has worked well for him. The other is the IT/Network person for his company.
Playing games as a pasttime is no different than those of you who play golf regularly or from the maniac fans who will camp out in line for superbowl tickets, or tickets for some college team, or a concert for their favorite band. In fact, most golf fanatics and sports nuts I know spend less time with their families than my sons or most gamers I know. One other thing, they read books (history, novels, literature) all of the time, and more than 20 books a year. They take more time to read than I have been able to in recent years.
Get a grip! You automatically assume that those who stand in line to buy these games are layabouts. Some are, but most work for the money they are spending.
OK, now go back to your pro football game.
It did little to save the 60's/early 70's minority generation who were drafted. I saw them first hand. The ones who were drafted who already had a solid grounding did well. Those who were crapweasels coming in were the same going out, same for a lot of the whites who were sent to duty by judges or who were drafted. Most of the latter category just came out being better versed in wielding a weapon in the commission of a crime. Discipline best benefits those who are willingly receptive to it from the start.
Yep. Spot on.
Quetion: What is the longest lenghth of time that any one soldier spent on the battlefield?
Funny. Several Navy ships, such as USNS Mercy, have been dragooned into doing idiotic "Meals On Wheels" operations for foreign nations. The Bush Administration is just as guilty when it comes to misusing military forces for publicity and "social work."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.