WASHINGTON -- Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel is again pushing legislation to reintroduce a draft in America. He first did so in 2003 to slow the Bush administration's rush to war. Now he says conscription is necessary to provide the bodies necessary for Iraq's occupation.
Returning to a draft would ruin the world's dominant armed forces, filling its ranks with people who don't want to serve and turning military service into a divisive political issue. Yet Rangel's proposal reflects an ugly reality: The Bush administration's disastrous intervention in Iraq is weakening the U.S. military.
Both the army and marines are failing to meet their recruiting goals. Reservists are being treated as regular substitutes rather than emergency complements for the active forces. Only Pentagon "stop-loss" orders, which bar personnel from leaving when their terms expire, are holding some servicemen and women in uniform.