When the Democrats took control of Congress in January, Representative Charles Rangel of New York almost immediately introduced a bill to reinstate the military draft. When I heard about this, the first thing that entered my mind was, “Is he crazy?” Here was a prominent Democratic politician, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, in full and open support of an idea that, according to CNN, some 70% of Americans are completely opposed to.

But after doing some research, I learned Rangel’s reasoning from an editorial he wrote for the New York Times just prior to the Iraq war. “I believe that if those calling for war knew that their children were likely to be required to serve -and to be placed in harm’s way-there would be more caution and a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing with Iraq. A renewed draft will help bring a greater appreciation of the consequences of decisions to go to war,” he said. “A disproportionate number of the poor and members of minority groups make up the enlisted ranks of the military, while the most privileged Americans are underrepresented or absent.”

So Rangel appears to have at least two reasons to support a military draft. First it would supposedly prevent wars (this is the argument for all of you adamantly opposed to the Iraq War) by potentially placing politicians’ children in harm’s way, motivating them, in turn, to truly use war as a last-ditch resort to solve international problems. This argument brings to mind Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, but knowing most of you would be unsatisfied with any fact originating from him, I did some research on my own. According to Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer in their book, AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from the Military-and How It Hurts Our Country (2006), around 1% of all members of Congress have children serving in the military. However, according to my research, some of these very members still voted to approve the Iraq war in 2003. Would a larger percentage of Congressmen with children in the military make Congress more skeptical about going to war, and possibly have prevented the blunder that was the invasion of Iraq? Based on this evidence, it seems uncertain.

Rangel’s second reason revolves around the poor and minorities composing a disproportionate number of members of the armed services. A 2007 Associated Press report found that, “nearly three-fourths of [U.S. troops] killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average.” Moreover, it’s no secret that many impoverished high school graduates feel compelled to join the military because it would eventually provide them with the financial means to attend college-means that they would otherwise be unable to attain.

The obvious consequence of all this is that a large portion of Americans are personally detached from the consequences and sacrifices of war. Here lies the argument that a military draft would expand the burdens of war across all races and social classes, making the American public more critical of the government’s use of the military, and motivating us to hold politicians more accountable for their mistakes because of the more personal costs involved. In short, it would make everyone care more about when our government decides to go to war. There seems to be some historic force behind this argument. After all, part of the reason behind the political activism and protesting in response to the Vietnam War was because of the military draft.

Before any of you start writing responses to this article, let me make it clear that I am not in support of a military draft. Why? Because I don’t think it would work all that well in achieving these goals. Moreover, I think it’s slightly ridiculous to try and prevent wars by simply raising the stakes. I think that responsibility ultimately lies with us to be more involved and elect more prudent politicians. Yet the cynic within me, one that believes most people will never care enough without drastic change, cannot help but find the idea of less war, more governmental accountability and greater political activism amongst the American people extremely appealing, even if it would require sacrificing a few years of my life for the military. But of course, it’s easy for me to say that, sitting here comfortably in my dorm room, thousands of miles away from any war, and having never tasted (nor truly learned to appreciate) sacrifice.

Nandan is a freshman in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

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