Should We Reinstate The Draft?

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Should We Reinstate The Draft?
by Dave Gibson, Columnist

January 17, 2003

Dave Gibson The debate over making military service mandatory once again, which was brought about by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), has proven yet more that the left is never satisfied. Rangel's absurd claims that blacks and the poor are somehow bearing an unfair load when it comes to serving their country is hogwash! Ours is an all-volunteer military...no one is forced to serve.

Several decades ago, the liberal left complained that blacks were not allowed to serve with white soldiers in combat. Now the leftist Congressman charges that blacks once again are being treated unfairly. Why? Because they choose to serve and are welcomed? What do they want?

The Pentagon just released figures showing that the U.S. military basically looks about the same as the population of the country. However, the report goes on to say that blacks make up about 20 percent of enlisted personnel, while they make up between 12 and 14 percent of our total population. So what?

I believe that Rangel (a war veteran himself) has allowed his hatred of President Bush and 'all things Republican', to cloud his judgment and has hurt the war effort by playing the 'race card' (always a popular tool of the left, when the facts are not on their side). The Democrats will do anything to disrupt the Bush agenda and the current conservative mood of the country, even if it means undermining our security by painting our military as something less than what it is...the finest fighting force in the world today!

No one joins the military unless they choose to do so. The fact is that poor young people of all races do join the military at a higher rate than those coming from upper income families. Many do it to earn money for college, they do it to receive high tech job training, they do it to escape lousy neighborhoods and grinding poverty. I ask you...Is there anything wrong with that?

Charles Rangel seems to have forgotten that the U.S. military is a place where anyone can succeed. Perhaps, he does not realize that the current Secretary of State (a black man) rose to the rank of General in the U.S. Army and served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under both Presidents Bush and Clinton. Colin Powell was an architect of the Gulf War and will certainly carry a hefty role in our renewed conflict with Iraq. Or perhaps, he is so bitter over the Democrats' loss of the White House and Congress that he has turned his back on a military in which he served!

Rangel's assertion that political leaders would act with more prudence if faced with the deployment of their own sons and daughters into harm's way is equally absurd. Matters such as war usually don't effect the powerful!...Case in point :Al Gore, who was kept out of harm's way during his unusually short "deployment" during the Vietnam War thanks to his dad ( Sen. Al Gore Sr. D-TN). Gore was rushed back to the United States immediately following his dad's failed re-election campaign. Just as our current President spent the Vietnam War defending the Dallas/Fort Worth area, thanks to his politically rich family. That fact of life will never change, regardless of a draft or not!

As we sit upon the brink of war, one thing is certain...American servicemen will fight and die. This is the time to support our military, not cast doubt upon it. I would have expected more from a war veteran and a U.S. Congressman. ***

Photo of Dave Gibson courtesy of staff files