Rangel calls for mandatory military service

[Craig]

I thought I'd save the moderators the trouble of moving this later, so I'm posting it in this forum.

:go:

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/12/29/...tary/index.html

Rangel calls for mandatory military service

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.

[deez nuts]

Rangel's an idiot. He speaks thru his ass most of the time.



Gotta love the hair a la Al Sharpton.

[mrazntre]

BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHA!!!!!

and he calls himself a democrat?

[pfc beansprout]

heh....don't know too much about this cat..but found the

"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.' "

very interesting....

[SunWuKong]

if this thing actually passes, i'm heading to HK.

[kimpossible]

If it's limited mandatory service for both genders I don't see why that's such a horrible idea.

[deez nuts]

I still think the upper class and prominant members of society will find a way to dodge it. And I will feel even more raped in the ass if that happens. There's always a way out for almost everything, especially if you have money and power.

[mrazntre]

Originally posted by Hello_Hapa@Dec 31 2002, 02:49 AM
If it's limited mandatory service for both genders I don't see why that's such a horrible idea.

because this is supposed to be a "free nation"

[VV o n g B a]

i don't really see it as such a bad idea either. but bun boy's right, i seriously doubt it would pass unless some loopholes for the rich were put in.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by mrazntre@Dec 30 2002, 07:08 PM
because this is supposed to be a "free nation"

Just because we have freedom doesn't mean we couldn't each learn to defend our own country for a year or two. I'd only be for it if it was mandatory for no more than 1-2 years and for everyone. No gender bias.

[rakovlam]

The US is an all-volunteer army, and rightfully so. But it is also the most technologically advance army ever. Mandatory service would probably hurt the quality of the army since:

-the navy and air force are engineer based force (for those who study engineering, it's hard hard hard
-very few draftees would make it through Parris Island's marine corps

Besides, one of the reasons some people immigrate here is to AVOID mandatory military service. Because it's all-volunteer, the actions of the army could not be controlled by the masses like during Vietnam. When people join, they know exactly the consequences. This way, it filters out the ones that are too weak and/or too afraid to serve.

Remember Michael Pittman, former RB of the Arizona Cardinals? He's the one who gave up a huge contract to join the army. Now that's commitment.

[AliBabaIncorporated]

Originally posted by mrazntre@Dec 31 2002, 11:08 AM
because this is supposed to be a "free nation"

plenty of other free, democratic, rich nations have mandatory military service. e.g. korea, taiwan, israel. of course, that's why you'll find a lot of their nationals in the US and not planning to go back home until they're well past the draft age. If Rangel's bill passed, I think Canada's population will see a sudden increase.

seriously, the US' success is based on braindraining the hell outta the rest of the world, and a big part of that ability to braindrain rests in providing a haven for brainy guys who don't wanna waste two years of their lives in national service. it's a bit more difficult to do that if we also start requiring military service.

[kimpossible]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Dec 30 2002, 10:42 PM
you'll find a lot of their nationals in the US and not planning to go back home until they're well past the draft age.

I know this. I'm married to one of those nationals. I understand how he feels and why he didn't want to serve. But we're not talking about other countries' military. We're talking about the US military service. I think short mandatory service is good as a concept. He doesn't, along with many other people who don't. Just a difference of opinion.

[Green_Circle]

Originally posted by AliBabaIncorporated@Dec 31 2002, 06:42 AM
plenty of other free, democratic, rich nations have mandatory military service. e.g. korea, taiwan, israel. of course, that's why you'll find a lot of their nationals in the US and not planning to go back home until they're well past the draft age. If Rangel's bill passed, I think Canada's population will see a sudden increase.

seriously, the US' success is based on braindraining the hell outta the rest of the world, and a big part of that ability to braindrain rests in providing a haven for brainy guys who don't wanna waste two years of their lives in national service. it's a bit more difficult to do that if we also start requiring military service.

Just heard that Israeli soldiers cannot refuse to serve in the occupied territories. Wonder how this will play out?

[deez nuts]

It's prolly not gonna pass. Nobody in NYC takes that fool seriously, prolly the same way over in DC.