OnePeople

Look Out! The Draft is Back!

In January 2003, Congressman Rangel and Senator Hollings introduced legislation reinstating a military draft. Congressman Rangel argues that if the Bush Administration is so keen on overextending the military, which is disproportionately poor and disenfranchised, then it seems fair to draft women and the rich. Some people have taken the bills at face value, and some understand it as a political move -- something that makes the Administration look very, very bad.

The DOD has stated many times that it doesn't even want a draft -- they learned from Vietnam that a fully professional force is better than conscripts in every way. Significantly, the bill offers non-military service as an alternative to the traditional draft. A good piece on the subject:

http://www.free-times.com/archive/coverstorarch/iraq_032603/cover_draft.html

The text of the bills are here:

http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN00089:
http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR00163:

Other background:

http://www.senate.gov/~hollings/press/2003127851.html
http://www.hillnews.com/news/100703/draft.aspx