Text 25296, 71 rader
Skriven 2006-11-19 22:17:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Draft
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This will make the dems popular...

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,230598,00.html

Rangel Calls for Reinstating Military Draft
Sunday, November 19, 2006

WASHINGTON   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, 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, 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.

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