House Shoots Down Draft, 402-2

The House of Representatives voted on bill to reinstate the draft by Democrat Charles Rangel (NY), and defeated it soundly, 402-2. The bill, which languished in Congress with no real support since its introduction in January 2003, has often been used as evidence the Republicans favor a draft, despite the fact that a Democrat sponsored it, 14 other Democrats cosponsored it, and no Republicans supported it. The rumors reached urban legend status, leading the House Republicans to take the uncommon step of voting on a bill that was not under remotely serious consideration. The two voting in favor of the bill were Democrats John Murtha (PA) and Pete Stark (CA), who was one of the cosponsors. Republican Senate majority leader Bill Frist said the Senate will not address the issue.

Comments

GOOD!

[thief_inc]

Thank God. It was political smoke and mirrors anyways. As a veteran I can say without a doubt in my mind, no military members want draftees. If you can get enough people to serve voluntarily maybe you shouldn't be fighting.

Re:GOOD!

[anaesthetica]

...if you force enough people to serve against their will, the general public will get interested enough to do something about a war which they don't support.

This is just about the most anti-democratic statement I've ever heard on slashdot. Why parent thinks it's acceptable to run roughshod over people's freedoms simply to make a political point against a war they object to is inconceivable to me.

You're not the only one thinking about 2008.

[porkchop_d_clown]

There are some Democrats hoping Kerry will lose so that Hillary can run in 2008; likewise there are some Republicans who want Kerry to win so they can avoid having to deal with a Madam President in 2009.

Re:Naughty, pudge

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course there is. We have 30,000 troops in South Korea..they could be moved into the Iraqi theater.

And if the rest of the world thinks that South Korea should indeed be a sovereign nation and that North Korea would be a threat to that goal, I'm sure the UN will gladly gather a force of 30,000 Blue Helmets to replace the departing Americans. The US has manned the DMZ for 50+ years...maybe its time the rest of the world ante up to that table.

We could also accelerate our departure from Germany and move those troops to Iraq. Again, if supporting the local German economies is something that the rest of the world thinks foreign militaries should be doing in Germany, I'm sure Kofi Anan will have no trouble replacing the departing Yanks with UN troops. We'll make sure to give the Army bases a fresh coat of paint and everything before we leave.

The problem is that a lot of people are taking

[porkchop_d_clown]

that hoax quite seriously.

In any case, I would dispute the idea that Bush would "have to revive the draft" - it's far more likely that he'd be forced to lower his expectations instead.

Similarly, I think the odds of a President Kerry suddenly getting tens of thousands of French and German troops into Iraq to be long at best and more likely wishful. Neither the French nor the Germans have demonstrated any real ability to deploy a large number of troops at all, let alone for an extended trip to the desert. Plus there's the fact that France has stated that they don't care who the President is, they won't deploy troops to Iraq.

Re:The problem is that a lot of people are taking

[totatis]

Neither the French nor the Germans have demonstrated any real ability to deploy a large number of troops at all, let alone for an extended trip to the desert.

Altrough there is no way that France will deploy troops for this war, I kindly remind you that in Gulf War 1, the French were present, and were the one who went the farest (sp?) in the desert. They penetrated further in Irak than any other nation, USA included.

Don't confuse the unwillingness to enter a war that 99% of the population opposes with its inability to do so.

The French army, while certainly a lot less as mighty as the American one is still not a joke, by far. They have good equipment, good training, and can be efficient in conflict (unless against the Germans, happily, we are now friendlier with the Germans than ever).

That precision done, you won't in fact see French troops in Iraq. The idea here is that we did everything to prevent the war, and that means we don't have a duty to go there and fix what the Bush adminstration has fucked up. And I totally agree with that.

Read the bill.

[flamingweasel]

This bill was never meant to go to a vote, nor did its author expect it to go anywhere. If you RTFB, you'll see it's 2 years of mandatory service for all. This was a bill to make a political point, that all of these congressman would never send their sons and daughters off to die for this war, but would happily send all the poor folks who serve as our military off to die in the desert.

This wasn't Machiavellian, it was a statement. Obviously lost on almost everyone.

Re:Hillary? Not a chance

[CptNerd]

Hillary has a lock on the 2008 election because she has a lock on the Dem nomination, and the Republicans can't field anyone with anywhere near the name recognition and experience. Cheney won't run, Schwartzenegger can't run, Giuliani might run but won't have the conservative base behind him.

Hillary also has the "pleasant" memories of the first Clinton term in her favor, and what "progressive" wouldn't vote for the first woman candidate for President? (conveniently forgetting all the others through the years).

No, the '08 election is Hillary's to lose.

Re:What's more equitable than choice?

[b-baggins]

---
cushy tour in National Guard.
---

Thank you for spitting in the face of all the National Guardsmen now currently serving in Iraq.

Jackass.

Re:Sigh.

[multimed]

That's true. And there's something to be said for trying to get people especially politicians to actually stop and think about something. But it is absolutely slimy and dirty politics for Kerry et. al. to say say "If Bush wins he'll reinstate the draft" and use the bills as a evidence. The Replublicans has no choice but to bring it to a vote in order to kill the bill and kill the FUD.