I FEEL A DRAFT COMING ON: In one of the more disingenuous moves in recent American politics, Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) has introduced legislation to bring back the military draft. Why is it disingenuous? Because the dovish Rangel (who voted against authorizing the use of force in Iraq) has no intention of the draft ever returning- he merely noticed that there's not nearly as much opposition to war with Iraq than he feels there should be, and he knows that (per Vietnam) Americans will be more likely to oppose war if they or their children are faced with the prospect of having to serve against their will. And even more absurdly, Rangel argues that the return of the draft would be more fair than the status quo- how is that? Isn't a military comprised entirely of volunteers both substantially more fair and more effective than one in which a large percentage don't want to be there?
Posted by Stephen Silver at January 2, 2003 05:24 AM