Charlie Rangel Wants to Institute the Democrats’ Favorite Scare Tactic

In the run up to the 2004 presidential election, leftists started an internet rumor that President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld would reinstate the draft in order to fight their “illegal” war. Now that the Democrats have majorities in both houses of Congress, guess what Democrat Charlie Rangel wants to do? Yep, you got it. Reinstate the draft:

Americans would have to sign up for a new military draft after turning 18 if the incoming chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has his way.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said Sunday he sees his idea as a way to deter politicians from launching wars and to bolster U.S. troop levels insufficient to cover potential future action in Iran, North Korea and Iraq.

“There’s no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm’s way,” Rangel said.

Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose a measure early next year.

In 2003, he proposed a measure covering people age 18 to 26. This year, he offered a plan to mandate military service for men and women between age 18 and 42; it went nowhere in the Republican-led Congress.

Democrats will control the House and Senate come January because of their victories in the Nov. 7 election.

At a time when some lawmakers are urging the military to send more troops to Iraq, “I don’t see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft,” said Rangel, who also proposed a draft in January 2003, before the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Standby Reserve, said he agreed that the U.S. does not have enough people in the military.

“I think we can do this with an all-voluntary service, all-voluntary Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. And if we can’t, then we’ll look for some other option,” said Graham, who is assigned as a reserve judge to the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals.

Rangel, the next chairman of the House tax-writing committee, said he worried the military was being strained by its overseas commitments.

“If we’re going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can’t do that without a draft,” Rangel said.

He said having a draft would not necessarily mean everyone called to duty would have to serve. Instead, “young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to this great republic, whether it’s our seaports, our airports, in schools, in hospitals,” with a promise of educational benefits at the end of service.

Graham said he believes the all-voluntary military “represents the country pretty well in terms of ethnic makeup, economic background.”

A military draft won’t have a snowball’s chance in hell because supporting the idea would be political suicide. But leave it to a Democrat to announce something like this.

Again, I ask: buyer’s remorse, anyone?

Update: Allahpundit has video of Charlie Rangel discussing his brilliant idea on Face the Nation and also writes this:

With talk now of Bush sending 20,000 more troops to Iraq and Zinni and Batiste telling the Times that withdrawal would be disastrous, doves need to recapture the momentum. Enter the draft bill, which is doomed to fail but at least gives the media a few weeks of material with which to dissuade anyone leaning towards redoubling our efforts to win this thing.

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