Representative Charles Rangel of New York

In attempting to scare American at the thought of going to war with Iraq, Representative Charles Rangel of New York proposed a bill to reinstate the military draft. His purpose was not to argue the draft itself, but to make Americans aware of the perils of going to war and the inequity in the current military. Ironically, four years later, the war is a reality, and so is the draft. Reinstating the military draft will serve the US’s failing military both abroad and at home.

First of all, the draft in the 21st century would need to be fair. Many people fear the draft because it is well known that the lower socioeconomic levels and minorities are disproportionately represented in the fighting military today. As a matter of fact, more than 30 percent of the nation’s military is made up of minorities (Rangel Introduces a Bill to Reinstate Draft, 2003). The new draft would make everyone between the ages of 20 to 26 (or perhaps as young as 18 and as old as 28) register and serve.

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Thus, the draft is perceived as more fair. “One reason more young people don't serve now is the fear that while they're wearing the uniform, their peers will be out having fun and getting a leg up in their careers. If everyone were required to serve, no one would feel like a sucker” (Moskos and Glastris, 2001). However, the idea of sending every college aged kid overseas to carry a gun is an outdated vision of the draft. Nowadays, the military needs more than just ‘professional soldiers.

’ Plenty of duties are available for those draftees (and volunteers) that are made available with the draft. As Moskos and Glastris (2001) note, we are now dealing with a “shadowy enemy” rather than an obvious platoon of marching troops. The new enemy is everywhere – terrorism. “That terrorists might poison municipal water supplies, spray anthrax from crop dusters, or suicidally infect themselves with small pox and stroll through busy city streets, is no longer considered farfetched.

That we might need to draft some of our people to counter these threats---now that's considered farfetched, to the extent that it's considered at all” (Moskos and Glastris, 2001). Fighting this war will take more manpower than the United States currently has. This manpower will not necessarily be in trenches or tanks. They will be doing duties that many Americans do not realizes are needed.

These jobs include federal armed personnel to “guard dams, nuclear power plants, sports complexes, and U. S. embassies abroad; more border patrol and customs agents to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the country; more INS agents track down immigrants who have overstayed their visas; more coast guard personnel to inspect ships; more air marshals to ride on passenger jets; and more FBI agents to uncover terrorist cells still operating within and outside our borders…border guards, customs agents, anthrax inoculators, or disaster-relief specialists (Moskos and Glastris, 2001).

None of these jobs require tactical war skills. In addition, many individuals do not understand the in a perfect situation, troops would not serve for such long terms. Now, with the shortage of soldiers in Iraq, many troops are being redeployed two and three times. A draft would solve this problem. In Bosnia or Kosovo, the average time of deployment was only six months (Moskos and Glastris, 2001).

The short duration for draftees would be less daunting than the burden the current military is bearing. The idea of the draft of previous decades is not the same draft as the one of this era simply because the war landscape is different. Fairly distributing the burden and reducing terms is one difference that many will notice. In addition, these individuals will serve at duties not necessarily on the front lines, but in positions of homeland security due to the new type of war on terror.

With the guarantee that all will serve in a way that is appropriate for them, people have a better chance of becoming that a draft is necessary to continue the freedoms that all Americans enjoy. References Moskos, C. & Glastris, P. (2001). Now Do You Believe We Need A Draft? Washington Monthly 4 June 2007 from http://www. washingtonmonthly. com/features/ 2001/0111. moskos. glastris. html Rangel Introduces a bill to reinstate draft. (2003). CNN. Com Inside Politics. Retrieved 4 June 2007 from http://www. cnn. com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/rangel. draft/

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