[CNN]Rangel calls for mandatory military service

[pete]

WASHINGTON (CNN) --A Democratic lawmaker said Sunday he will introduce a bill in the next session of Congress to make military service mandatory.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said such legislation could make members of Congress more reluctant to authorize military action.

"I'm going to introduce legislation to have universal military service to let everyone have an opportunity to defend the Free World against the threats coming to us," Rangel said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"I'm talking about mandatory service."

The Korean War veteran has accused the Bush administration and some fellow lawmakers of being too willing to go to war with Iraq.

In October, he voted against a joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq. It passed 296-133 in the House and 77-23 in the Senate.

"When you talk about a war, you're talking about ground troops, you're talking about enlisted people, and they don't come from the kids and members of Congress," he said.

"I think, if we went home and found out that there were families concerned about their kids going off to war, there would be more cautiousness and a more willingness to work with the international community than to say, 'Our way or the highway.'"

Rangel did not provide specifics of his proposal.

[YankeeGobshite]

I wonder how this would go over if it were implemented.

As I recall this politician who put this idea forward is African American and feels that blacks are over represented in the military, that if there's a war, they do a disproportionate amount of the dying (quoting vietnam casualty statistics), and that the US would be less inclined to send its armed forces overseas if the sons and daughters of senators were in harms way too. That strikes me as naieve, since im sure the families with influence and money would send their kids to officer cadet school and they'd end up as officers or desk job guys anyway. And history has plenty of examples of goverments not caring to waste their best and brightest in futile slaughter, i doubt something like this would change America's beligerancy in and of itself.

On the one hand, I think it would do some people alot good, especially people from poor areas, bad inner cities, that sorta thing. There are so many Americans who've never seen more than the other side of their home towns or neighborhoods, much less other parts of the country or been abroad. My wife's a teacher in a low income neighborhood and there are students in her classroom who've never seen the pacific ocean, only a few miles distant. These kids who are stuck in these rotten neighborhoods would probably benefit from the armed forces. Many people who currently enlist do so for just this reason; want to get out of their home towns, want to get the funding for college. (A friend of mine served 4 years in the air force behind a desk, he came out with good german, decent russian and network admin skills, and a bunch of money for college, now he's getting a degree at berkeley paid for by the Air Force, and he escaped his crappy neighborhood in Arizona. It was a good thing for him.)

On the other hand, I know most of the countries in Europe which had mandatory service have abolished it because the Soviet tank divisions in East Germany that we were all told were supposed to be invading at a moments notice have evaporated east of the Vistula so citizen armies are no longer needed to repel the Red Horde, and because the cost invested in a draftee for a year or two of service was not justifiable for the benefit gained for countries with tight military budgets like in w. europe. I know the Netherlands did away with it, I think the French did recently, and I know the Germans are considering it. From my own experience in Germany I know that i was universally regarded as a total waste of time and everyone did everything they could to get out of it.

I doubt this will get too far, the US military is way too goddamn big anyway, and they want to keep it volunteer only so they get a return on their training investment.

Personally, I think militarism has stained American thinking enough, I hope the US doesn't start making everyone go through that machine. As much as I think it would help a minority of people expand their horizons, I think for most it would be a negative, warping experience. My father was a marine corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam, he still goes running every day with his marine issue belt and hat and stuff. Its fairly alarming. America doesn't need any more people like that, there are too many of them among us as it is.

We need more "pinko left commie red scum" to help restore some balance against the "true american patriot" war mongering Bush fellaters.