Last summer, when President Bush first sought backing for military action against Iraq, liberal Democrat Charles Rangel of New York was among his most vocal opponents.
But almost immediately after congress returned from vacation this week, Representative Rangel proposed legislation to reinstate the military draft. The bill would compel males between 18 and 25 to be enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces.
While Rangel's bill is considered to have little chance of becoming law, it has reignited a debate (as it was surely intended to) over class, race and who should be required to fight and possibly die for a country that has not put such large numbers of combatants in the field in a generation.
In a December 31 op-ed article published in The New York Times, the often outspoken congressman floated the idea, arguing, "A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while the most privileged Americans are underrepresented or absent."
According to the Defense Department, blacks make up 20 percent of the overall military and 22 percent of all those enlisted in the services. Blacks make up about 11 percent of the U.S. population as a whole, according to the 2000 Census.
To remedy the situation, Rangel, who is black, proposes that the draft be reinstated for the first time since the Vietnam War. "I believe that if we are going to send our children to war, the governing principle must be that of shared sacrifice," he wrote.
Rangel also expressed concern that the current force of 1.4 million active military personnel might become spread too thin if the current standoff with Iraq escalates, the U.S. continues its efforts to dismantle the al Qaeda network and it maintains heavy troop presences in South Korea and Japan.
The congressman's proposal has received little initial support from key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who will likely decide the legislation's fate. "My read at this time is that there is not a lot of enthusiasm or support for [the draft], either within the civilian community or perhaps most importantly within the military services themselves," said Representative John McHugh (R-NY), who chairs the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has stated on several occasions that he does not support reinstating the draft. "There's no need for it at all," he said during a press conference on Tuesday. "The disadvantages of using compulsion to bring into the armed forces the men and women needed are notable."
Critics of Rangel's proposal point out that it would take roughly a year to train any enlisted soldier for combat. By that time, any conflict with Iraq would likely have been long since resolved.
Others say Rangel is using the draft issue simply to score political points. The conservative editorial board at The Wall Street Journal recently excoriated Rangel for "stoking racial flames."
The newspaper also cited Defense Department data that suggests that blacks are more likely than whites to hold non-combat roles in the military. "The Special Forces, who led the Afghanistan campaign and who would likely play a key role in Iraq, are overwhelmingly white," added the paper.
Under current law, all males between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service, the government agency that would coordinate a draft. Currently 11.1 million are signed up, according to the agency. If Rangel's legislation were to be passed by congress and signed into law, the first to be called up would be 20-year-olds. After that, those 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 years old would be drafted successively. Finally, 18 and 19-year-olds would receive the call.
Learn more about the Selective Service and the rules of the draft.
— Ethan Zindler
