Rangel calls for mandatory military service
This proposal almost defies explanantion. If memory serves, recruiting for our all-volunteer military has been a challenge, but not critically so. So where did this come from? More importantly, will it go anywhere?
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said such legislation could make members of Congress more reluctant to authorize military action.
"I'm going to introduce legislation to have universal military service to let everyone have an opportunity to defend the Free World against the threats coming to us," Rangel said on CNN's "Late Edition."
"I'm talking about mandatory service."
My opposition to this should surprise no one, but I'm willing to entertain the possibility if absolute necessity can be demonstrated. If we are to reinstitute the draft, my primary concern is the it be done fairly and equitably. During the Vietnam War, those wealthy, well-connected, or intelligent enough to get into college excaped service. Those required to serve, and, in many cases, to die, were by and large the poor and the uneducated. I'm not saying the children of wealth and privilege didn't serve, but they had options available that were clearly not available to the poor and less well-connected.
I have the feeling that Rangel's proposal will go nowhere quickly, but it should not be ignored. If we do, we may well end up with a new Selective Service system that too closely resembles the old. We cannot and should not countenance a system that allows the children of Congressmen to evade what the children of the barrio cannot.
