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Talk of a draft grows despite denials by White House
By Charles Pope
Seattle Post-Intellengencer Washington Correspondent
Saturday, November 8, 2003
WASHINGTON -- The United States' uneven record in Iraq has kindled a small
but persistent push to reinstitute
the military draft, a politically charged idea that hasn't been seriously considered
since the end of the
Vietnam War.
Yet despite denials from the White House that a draft is under consideration,
and despite the obvious
political fallout of such a move during an election campaign, talk of a draft
has heated up in recent
days.
Asked this week if the president is considering reinstituting the draft,
press secretary Scott
McClellan gave a quick and emphatic answer. "No," he said, moving
to the next question.
But military observers and some members of Congress say that the notion of
a possible military draft is
gaining traction, in part because of questions from Democrats in Congress about
the conduct of the Iraqi
reconstruction, from retired military officers who are worried that the force
is too small to accomplish such
a big and difficult job -- and because of the administration itself.
The Defense Department fueled the debate this week when it placed a notice
on its Web site asking for
"
men and women in
the community who might be willing to serve as members of a local draft board."
The
notice, which appeared on an official Web page for the Selective Service System
titled "Defend America,"
explained:"If
a military draft becomes necessary, approximately 2,000 Local and Appeal Boards
throughout
America would decide which young men, who submit a claim, receive deferments,
postponements or exemptions
from military service, based on Federal guidelines. Positions are available
in many communities across the Nation."
The Pentagon wouldn't comment on the notice, and by yesterday it had been
pulled from the Web site without
explanation. Federal officials, falling in line behind President Bush and his
official position, say there are no
specific plans to bring back the draft but it's only prudent to have the plans
and some of the people in
place if it becomes necessary. Despite those explanations, the public notice
by the Pentagon marked the first
formal request to re-establish draft boards since the draft was abolished in
1973.
Whether or not a draft is reinstated, debate about troop strength and the
commitment to Iraq will
continue. The United States has more than 130,000 soldiers serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan, a deployment
that has virtually drained the Army of its troops. One division remains in
the United States.
Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and senior military officials have
consistently said that the
military is not stretched too thin and that there are enough soldiers to meet
all responsibilities both
domestically and overseas.
The Pentagon sought to underscore that point Thursday by announcing that it
will send 85,000 new Army and
Marine combat troops to Iraq to replace soldiers ending one-year tours. The
Pentagon also alerted
43,000 National Guard and Reserve support troops that they may be sent to Iraq
as well.
Taken together, those decisions constitute the largest rotation of U.S. troops
since World War II.
In an added twist, the Army announced that soldiers in every unit designated
for deployment to Iraq next year
-- whether active duty or reserve -- will be prohibited from leaving the service
during a period
beginning 90 days before their departure to 90 days after they return.
Ironically, if the White House and Pentagon decide to reinstitute the draft
they will earn support from some
senior Democrats. Sen. Ernest Hollings of South Carolina and Rep. Charles Rangel
of New York have both
said that the country should bring back the draft. Without a draft, they say,
the current force will be
overly dependent on National Guard and reserves. That fact, coupled with the
yearlong tours required of
Reserve forces, has sustained demands that a draft be considered.
Rangel and
Hollings each sponsored legislation that would re-institute the draft. The
identical bills call
for mandatory national service in either the military or some other national
service of all men and women
between the ages of 18 and 26. Rangel argues that poor and less-educated Americans
suffer a disproportionate number of deaths and injuries in an all-volunteer force.
" In Iraq, minorities represented a disproportionate 32 percent of the deaths
among combat-related specialties
and 40 percent of those among the non-combat ranks," Rangel said.
"
I do deplore the fact that Americans and Americans-to-be of their socioeconomic
positions make
up the overwhelming majority of our nation's armed forces, and that, by and large,
those of wealth and
position are absent from the ranks of ground troops," he said.
"
The point is that, under a draft, every economic group, every social class, men
and women, would be
given the opportunity to contribute to the defense of their country," he
said. While some -- even many --
members of Congress privately accept Rangel's logic, no one expects Congress
to
publicly embrace the draft.
Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who is one of the authorities on the military in Congress,
opposes
bringing back the draft, said his chief of staff, George Behan.
"
He certainly doesn't think that an all-volunteer force is insufficient," Behan
said. "We've been
meeting all the recruiting goals and performance standards." Not surprisingly,
neither Hollings' nor Rangel's bill
has gone anywhere this year. And few expect Bush to take a step that would surely
be politically unpopular, if not suicidal. Nor is Rumsfeld likely to push for
the draft. He has
consistently said that the all-volunteer force has performed well and meets all
strategic demands.
VOICES ON THE DRAFT
Jon Myers, 22, waiting for a ride at the University of Washington: "It's
one of those scary things. People
our age haven't grown up with war being something we really think of as a possibility.
It's not in our
reality," Myers said. He's not worried, however, because he says he has
a ticket out: "Color-blindness.
I have a very mild red/green colorblindness. It runs in the family."
Carl Sheasley, 17, a member of the UW College Republicans, wearing a Bush/Cheney
'04 sticker while
attending a rally in opposition to a rally for Democratic presidential candidate
Dennis Kucinich: "I
would go right now. I will unilaterally support this country," he said,
adding that military service isn't
his first choice, but that he'd serve if his president asked him to. "I
believe that the Iraq war was a just
conflict."
Jameson Florence, 21, riding his mountain bike near the UW's Red Square: "Aren't
college students exempt?"
he asked first, before explaining that he's not opposed to the draft, just
the administration. "If I
was more for the cause -- I mean, we all live here. You've got to pay your
dues."
Eric Solorio, 19, buying a ticket to see "The Matrix Revolutions" at
the Bay Majestic theater in Ballard:
" He (Bush) better not ever. That's not me. It won't happen -- I'd have
to
leave the country. My mom has
three boys, so we'd all have to go." Solorio, who once contemplated enlisting
in the Air
Force, said he's not opposed to military service. " I'm just opposed to him (Bush) forcing me to fight. I
don't like him."