This man wants you!
By Douglas Waller
Of all the members of Congress and Senators who voted last fall to allow George Bush to use force against Iraq, only one had a child serving in the enlisted ranks of the military.
Would Congress and the American public be so eager to wage war if everyone's son and daughter might be called to fight?
Charles Rangel, the veteran Democratic Congressman from New York, doesn't think so. Complaining that the military's all-volunteer force has left the risks of combat largely to minorities and the poor, who are more likely to join the military for a better job, Rangel has joined with South Carolina Democratic Senator Ernest Hollings to introduce a bill that would reinstate the draft, which ended 30 years ago.
"We're going through a period of what I call patriotism lite," says Rangel, a decorated Korean War vet. "Put a flag on your SUV, but when it comes to making a sacrifice, you hold the coat while someone else does the fighting."
Rangel has been pitching his draft bill for weeks, to a chilly reception in Washington. The White House and most in Congress oppose a draft. The generals strongly back the all-volunteer force, arguing that it costs billions less to maintain than a conscripted army.
Its soldiers are also more motivated "because they volunteered," says Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. On the eve of war, the Pentagon "is horrified at Mr. Rangel's suggestion," says a senior Defense official, and has rolled out pages of statistics to try to debunk Rangel's claim that minorities and the poor bear the risks unfairly.
Blacks make up 21% of the enlisted military force, compared with 12% in the general population. But these recruits "tend to be concentrated in administrative and support jobs, not combat jobs," says a Pentagon report released after Rangel introduced his bill last month.
An earlier Defense Department report acknowledges that new recruits come "primarily" from middle-and lower-income families.
Says Rangel: "All Americans should be prepared to share the sacrifices of war"--even affluent ones.
Copyright © 2003 Time Inc.
