Top Democrat: Bring back the draft<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 if the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has his way.New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars. He believes a draft would bolster U.S. troop levels that are currently insufficient to cover potential future action in 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," Rangel said.Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose a measure early next year.In 2003, he proposed a draft 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.Democrats will control the House and Senate come January because of their victories in the November 7 mid-term election.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," said Rangel.He also proposed a draft in January 2003, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.Sen. Lindsey Graham, 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 and Graham appeared on "Face the Nation" on CBS.Polls show most Americans oppose a draftRangel, the next chairman of the House tax-writing committee, said he worried the military is 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.The Selective Service System, an agency independent of the Defense Department, 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.</div>http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/19/ran...t.ap/index.html
After what happened in Vietnam beinging the draft back is nearly impossible. Political Suicide. I believe our country has gotten softer but if we had a real reason and everyone supported the war I'm confident young Americans would step forward and fight like the young before us.
Rangel wants a draft assuming it will make people more aware of what and where troops are being used and what they are being used for. He hopes that maybe lawmakers will put more thought into deploying our troops, when the troops they deploy may be their own children or relatives. In all seriousness a draft will boost manning levels throughout the service where troop levels are low. The Army is overextended, the National Guard is being used in ways it was never really intended. Bush seems to be moving us towards military conflict with Iran. North Korea seems to be flexing and that situation may soon require tending to. We may need the draft reinstated because we may find our nation actually requiring a draft.
A draft will boost manning levels in the Army, and allow the National Guard to come back hom. You are right about that, but I personally believe a draft is a horrible idea. For a couple of reasons I think this.First and foremost to me, is that most people that get drafted and forced to join the military are not going to want to be there. If they don't want to be there, they are not going to work hard, or train hard to be good soldiers. They are just going to do what they need to do to get by. Training is what somewhat prepares you for the real thing, so when someone doesn't try hard, and does just enough they are usually sloppy. That carries over to combat, where there is no room for a sloppy and lasy soldier. When bullets start flying, it's hard to trust a soldier that you know is sloppy, and might get you killed. When your staff seargant is standing over you and says "Run for that wall, Roberts has you covered," and you don't trust Roberts, your going to hesitate a little before going because your worried he won't hold up his end of the bargain. In turn, by you hesitating and not getting your ground, the other soldiers have to hold up and stay stationary longer, and a soldier that stays put to long is an easy target to hit. As well, as a soldier that doesn't want to be there is going to have a bad attitude. Everyone here I assume has played sports before, one bad attitude can rub off on everyone and before you know it, morale to the whole platoon has gone down.That's the military side of things. The civilian side is where the White House and Capital Building will have problems. If that soldier is forced to join through a draft, goes off and then dies fighting for something he didn't want to, his parents, brothers, sisters, wives, family members and friends are going to start protesting. If you think protests today are bad, wait till this happens. Protests are going to go through the roof, and will be huge. This will be heard about everywhere.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (playaofthegame @ Nov 20 2006, 08:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm definitely against it because it directly affects myself, my generation and my peers</div> Say that to a WW2 Veteran.
Im against conscription, every way were the US has implemented conscription there is mass public demonstrations. this war is unpopular enough, adding a draft would just make it worse. If the Democrats want to stop wars, than they need to stop being elected president. every war the US has been involved in, with the exception of three were under democratic presidents.
