Not Your Sweetie

Bring Back the Draft

By CHARLES B. RANGEL

WASHINGTON
President Bush and his administration have declared a war
against terrorism that may
soon involve sending thousands of American troops into combat
in Iraq. I voted against
the Congressional resolution giving the president authority to carry out
this war — an
engagement that would dwarf our military efforts to find Osama bin Laden
and bring him to
justice.

But as a combat veteran of the Korean conflict, I believe that if we are
going to send our
children to war, the governing principle must be that of shared
sacrifice. Throughout much of
our history, Americans have been asked to shoulder the burden of war
equally.

That's why I will ask Congress next week to consider and support
legislation I will introduce to
resume the military draft.

Carrying out the administration's policy toward Iraq will require
long-term sacrifices by the
American people, particularly those who have sons and daughters in the
military. Yet the
Congress that voted overwhelmingly to allow the use of force in Iraq
includes only one member
who has a child in the enlisted ranks of the military — just a few more
have children who are
officers.

I believe that if those calling for war knew that their children were
likely to be required to
serve — and to be placed in harm's way — there would be more caution and
a greater
willingness to work with the international community in dealing with
Iraq. A renewed draft will
help bring a greater appreciation of the consequences of decisions to go
to war.

This seems to me quite the gamble: will it pay off in that it will expose the chickenhawks? Or will the GOP call his bluff and draft anyone without the right connections to get out?