Battling over the draft
Re “Rangel’s call to reinstate draft meets resistance,” Nov. 21
I hope we are being lied to about this war on terror. That may seem a strange thing to wish for, but it beats the alternative. If we are really fighting a global war for our very existence, as our government keeps telling us, it is the height of irrationality for our leaders to resist reinstatement of the draft.
If we thought of this war as a sporting event and we were wondering which side to bet on, consider this. On their side, they have people who are willing to volunteer to sacrifice their lives to attack us, and on our side, we are not only unwilling to even consider mobilizing to meet the threat, we aren’t even willing to have our taxes raised to pay to hire the people we hope will defend us. Who would you bet on?
One can only wonder what the world would be like today if the people in this country had that same attitude back when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.
SANFORD THIER
Marina del Rey
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Recent political discussions indicate that Americans are unable to maintain an adequate number of troops in Iraq, and will be unable to recruit enough troops required if we were forced to invade other rogue countries. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) has suggested reinstating the military draft. Instead of a draft, I suggest opening up immigration visas in the job category of military recruits. The U.S. has been draining the best brains in such career categories as doctors, engineers and computer scientists. Now we can also drain “the muscle” from all over the world. This new breed of immigrants will be literally willing to die to come to America.
ASHOK JAIN
South Pasadena
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A draft is nothing more than enslavement, plain and simple. You can talk all you want about the defense of the nation, but it won’t change the fact that it’s the worst form of coercion imaginable. If a military conflict is unquestionably in the nation’s interest, people will rush to defend the nation. But a draft gives politicians unaccountable power to place the lives of conscripted soldiers on the line. No free country needs a draft. No country that enslaves its citizens deserves to be defended.
MICHAEL J. HURD
Bethany Beach, Del.
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Rangel said his idea is a way to deter politicians from launching wars. This is not the first time he has come up with this irresponsible concoction. Rangel knows as well as anyone that a draft has never prevented this country from going to war. All Rangel is doing is scaring a lot of young kids with his rhetoric. He needs to shut up and do his job.
JOHN JOHNSON
Encino