"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..."
And so what is the point here? I bet they would not have voted for WWII if women could have been drafted. So what?
"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.
Note to Charlie ("I am an arrogant NYer - which is why I do not live in Mississippi") Rangel: You are so right. Because they would not have the professionalism and dedication of today's voluntary force. When you go to war, you want to go with the best - which is exactly what we have today.
Rangel: A bumbling idiot.
I support the draft. I was drafted and I think those who were 1a or even 4f should serve in some capacity.
That way everyone has a stake in their country and its security.
The draft should include all services and all departments of government. Congress should not have staff, but drafted workers. The department of Interior, the Welfare department and so on should all use draftees.
Let's be fair. It is not just the military that makes this country strong so we should insist Congress use only draftees.
IMHO, the greatest untold story of the 20th century is the history of the American military, post-Vietnam to the end of the Carter Administration.
Despite the inept leadership under Jimmy Carter, and the social experiments played during that rudderless administration, the effort and leadership displayed by tens of thousands of young officers & non-coms made it work, somehow.
Looking back on my experiences, I keep asking myself, "how did we make this damn thing work?" Our equipment was aged and growing more obsolete by the day, we had shortages of funding for training and maintenance, and the standards for new enlistees were far below that required today.
As I reminisce about the absolutely superb officers & NCOs I worked with every day, I'm reminded of the words of the final scene in "The Bridges of Toko-Ri": "where do these men come from?"
It's only my opinion, but a return to the draft would undo all that was accomplished by all of those fine soldiers.
Is Charlie saying that if we had not had a draft that Truman would have never contributed troops to the "police action." in Korea? IMHO, the basic problem was the troop levels established during the Clitnon administration. But, as Rumsfeld surely noticed, raises in troop levels do not automatically translate into more boots on the ground. Indeed, since world War II, the Army has become fixated on the the idea of a force with too much brass, too large a rear echalon, and machines rather than men. My guess is that if you look at the force in place in Southwest Asia that there are many officers and noncoms who are there just to punch their tickets.
But Charlie also forgets that the draft did not result in distribution of serve among the classes during the Vietnam War. The rioting about the war came because college men didn't want to leave the comforts of home and do their time. So I guess his desire is to prevent another "Iraq." by in effect diminishing our ability to go to war for any cause.
He's obviously one of the elite few idiots in congress that tries to out-do that other flip-flopper (which doesn't need naming).
Let Charlie's bill go for a vote in the House and the Senate & lets see what happens?
Will Casey Jr, Obama, McCaskill and any other of our great Senators vote for the draft?
This is like the 3rd or 4th time he trys this.
I could support a draft...only if the name is changed to the Charles Rangel National Service Act.
heh-heh
How surprising; the rats launch a "Bush plans to bring back the draft" scare during the 2004 election, and now when they have the Senate and the House, they're pushing for the very thing they claimed to be against.
What can you expect from the dems.
Stupid is as....stupid is.
So a black man wants to bring back a form of slavery.
So if we have a draft, does that mean that illegals will take the jobs Americans won't be able to do?
"flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress" ?
uh . . so the CONGRESS voted for a war based upon clearly FLIMSY EVIDENCE ??
Note to all: If you'veserved in the military, you've earned your right to an opinion on this issue. Knock yourself out.
If not, you have zero right to tell others they should be forced to serve. Join the military yourselves or shut up.
there is a large pool of illegal immigrants who could earn their citizenship by serving, what about that charlie?