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.
I never said any such thing!!! What are you talking about???!!!
Sure ! Let's let our government, who has these same kids for 13 years in public school, keep them for another 2 years to try to indoctrinate them further.
Since the left runs the government and has since the 30s, and the left runs the K-12 establishment and has since the 60s, who do you think will magically step forward to clean up the mess the left has already made with these kids ? And, can it be accomplished with all these kids in 2 years ? If they couldn't accomplish it in K-12, it won't happen in any "national service" organization run by the left.
TexKat thats really frightening. Everyone should read that information.
They will learn it eventually, when their gravy train runs out. Let's not advocate indentured servitude and bury what remains of freedom in this country.
Apologize!! You are not quoting ME!!
Thinking you might not be wanting to confine the draft to just blacks, I enlarged my statement to "all".
If indeed, as you wrote, you meant that the draft should only concern itself with young black men, then I apologize for thinking you might not want to be bigoted.
Where does he think that the member of the volunteer military come from? Outer space???
In 2003, he proposed a measure covering people age 18 to 26. This year, he offered a plan to mandate military service for men and women between age 18 and 42; it went nowhere in the Republican-led Congress.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061119/ap_on_go_co/military_draft_7
Why are you posting that to me?
"I submit that WWII was a necessary war and Vietnam wasn't."
And how does Iraq rank in the list of necessary wars?
I wonder how exactly Rangel got his bronze star? It has to be
BS.
Bullet to the brain, I bet.
They never go into detail on these. All that is certain is that he has maintained a hustle based on it.
Plugging the southern border alone would take troops in hundreds of thousands - say, 250000.
I like how you apply the "camp out in front of a toy store" losers to all young people, as if some boners waiting out in front of the Best Buy for PS3s represent our generation. Hey chief, who the hell do you think is over in Iraq right now? Why dont you think a little bit about your own prejudices before you pull out the "young people today blah blah blah" line.
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