Reinstatement of the Draft. The selective service - Essay Example

1 Rein ment of the Draft The menand women who wear the United States military uniform are a very special breed of Americans, who all volunteered to serve. They took an oath to postpone their personal ambitions and even their personal commitments for duty and service to their country and their fellow-Americans. Now we have some politicians standing on their soap boxes, seeking sound bites, while proclaiming, that these young men and women are pawns. To this end, politicians are wasting our tax dollars on the floors of both houses, advocating a resumption of conscription. The Congressional transcripts of January 7, 2007 state that Congressman Charles Rangel (D. N.Y.), introduced a bill on the house floor which proposed, that all U. S. citizens (men and women), be required to serve in the military for a minimum period of two years, and he states the reason for this is in the interest of national and homeland security. The Rangel proposal is supported by yet another ranking democratic Congressman, and a fellow member of the Congressional Black Caucus; Representative John Conyers (D. Mich.), contend that African Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately represented in today's military, he says the children of the rich should serve alongside the less privileged Americans in the war on terror" (Conyers) Obviously, it would not be prudent to attack either one of the Congressmen as being racist, for obvious reasons. However, one can safely challenge, whether their altruistic motives are the appropriate panacea for leveling the battle field. We must take with a grain of salt, the suggestions of anyone who advocates the dismantling of the professional force - this entity has been efficient in serving America for more than 30 years. When one questions the experts of military history and science, not to mention 2 those who have conducted scientific studies on the subject, wherein the overwhelming conclusion is an all volunteer - (professional) military is much more efficient, that there are specific cases of more bravery and they get the job done with far less anomalies and other types of malfeasance than one could ever expect when using draftees. One must be mindful of our recent past with the draft. The Selective Service sometime in 1967, shifted to a lottery in their selection process, ostensibly this shift would add parity and result in less discrimination against the poor and people of color. It is important to note, that the outcome in Vietnam, reflected that the rich and the privileged, did not report to induction centers, as their money and influence served them well in securing exemptions. Ostensibly, the lottery draft was designed to add parity to the process and make the military more representative of the general American Population. However, it was used to widen the gap. According to James Carafano, a 25 year veteran of the armed forces, and a senior fellow at the Heritage foundation, "conscription makes sense only in moments of extreme national peril such as the Civil War and World War II. During the second world war, for example, virtually all able-bodied men of draft age - about 12 million - were needed to defend the republic. In short the draft was fair because virtually everybody that could serve had to serve. But those moments are rare. Imposing a draft at any other time creates not shared sacrifice, but a lottery for the unlucky"(Carafano) James Judge, a career counselor in Washington, D. C., decided to enlighten Congressman Rangel on the distinct disadvantage of a draft and he stated," During the Vietnam period, draft boards and the selective service took an even more disproportionate number of Blacks and people of color than the current poverty draft 3 system does. Blacks made up 55% of all draftees, and a lower percentage of enlisted during Vietnam. Currently they comprise 36% of the overall "volunteer" force. Thus, the draft system was more systematically racist and discriminatory than the current system"(Judge) He further added, "while college and job deferments were part of the class discrimination that filtered poor, undereducated and people of color into the services under the draft, there were other factors as well. Draft boards tended to be predominately white and educated, with many former military members serving on them SSS Director General Hershey once compared the draft to "an uncomfortably warm room with a number of pre-selected doors", that was geared to accomplish social engineering goals that were more directly accomplished "by foreign dictators for their youth". The Selective Service System obviously was not random, but served broad social goals and agendas"(Judge) In what appears to be a twist in irony, Ron Paul (R. Tex), introduced a bill in Congress on January 29, 2007, to abolish the SSS.In his Congressional testimony, he states, "the Department of Defense, in response to recent calls to reinstate the draft, has confirmed that conscription serves no military need"(Paul CR) Congressman Paul goes on to say that abolishing the Sekective Service System will provide a break for the country's tax laden public, yet it will not negatively impact the operation of the military. Paul sees a windfall of savings with the elimination of a system which consumes more than $500 million dollars per annum and has, "no measureable effect on military mobilization"(Paul) Additionally Paul says, "the selective service violates the very principles of individual liberty our nation was founded upon"(Paul) Senator John Warner looks at the 4 reinstatement of the draft from an economic perspective and in opposition he adds, "the problem with reinstatement of the draft is that it would quickly become, "one of the most enormously expensive programs"(Warner) If in this great country of ours, we are not successful in putting together an all voluntary military force to combat the world war on terrorism, then we are confronted with greater dilemmas far greater than any of the problems presented by Rangel and Conyers. It would translate into a situation that we no longer have the will to defend this great country. There is nothing inherently fortifying about conscription, which provides a country with the will to defend its shores and way of life. If we even begin to think of service in the military as anything less than virtuous, it is then, we will have endured a defeat which will be impossible to rebound from. The lament of the countless mothers who would like to have their child exercise options, as to whether they will, or whether they won't serve in the military, are very serious concerns to reckon with. Much of the dissention which this country experienced during the Vietnam war, was based on the inherent inequalities found in the draft. Albeit, we are presently engaged in a global fight against terrorism, we must still respect the individual liberties of all Americans. Some individuals are suited for military service, while others might not be. While this is the time for, all good men and women to come to the aid of their country, each individual must be allowed to decide their own fate and level or type of participation. Works Cited Carafano, James Draft Reinstatement is a bad idea, Accessed on line on February 9, 2007, from www.foxnews.com Judge, John, Letter to Congressman Charles Rangel on reinstatement of draft, 27 September 2003, Accessed on line on February 9, 2007, from www.parentsagainstadraft.org Shimkus, John, Rumors of reinstatement of draft, press release, Accessed on line on February 9, 2007, from www.house.gov Warner, John, discourages reinstatement of draft, accessed on line on February 9, 2007, from wwwnewsmax.com Read More