By Greg Szymanski

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) is beating the war drums again, trying to get innocents involved in the U.S. government and Vatican’s illegal war in the Middle East.

Supposedly a liberal Black representative, Rangel appears to be nothing more than a traitor and shill and a loyal New World propagandist, as he is calling to reinstitute the draft, saying the war should be shared by all young Americans not only the poor and underprivileged.

However, his thinking is flawed, according to many true patriots who clearly see through his deception.

“The draft bill is clearly geared to get more innocent boots on the ground as people are seeing that the war is illegal and unjustified,” said one patriot fed up with Bush’s illegal war. “Rangel says the war should be shared by all, not just the rich. But the rich always escape a draft anyway…Look at what happened with Vietnam. Cheney got a deferment and Bush never served one day in battle, taking a cushy Reserve position.”

Rangel first introduced his bill over a year ago, being soundly rejected, but Thursday he spoke at the U.S. House Radio-TV Gallery, Room H-321, in the U.S Capitol Building, trying to muster support for a draft.

Rangel’s bill will mandate a war time draft for all American men and women, aged 18-42, with no deferments.  It will also require civilian service for those who are not drafted.

Congressman Rangel said he re-introduced the draft bill last Thursday, January 11.

With the draft proposal now on the Legislative Horizon ff politicians have there way, we may see another Vietnam draft before the end of the year, according to several observers on Capitol Hill.

Although Rangel has been an outspoken critic of President Bush's war policies, he said this week "the burden of war should be shared among all social groups," including

“the children of the wealthy and privileged."

Rangel is essentially reintroducing legislation that failed to gain support last session, however, this time around I think it has a better chance of passing.

 HR 163, Rangel's previous pro-draft piece of legislation, became a democratic embarrassment and a political football during the 2004 Presidential campaign.

When charges started flying that President Bush would bring back the draft if elected, Rangel's bill became an obvious political liability for Sen. John Kerry, who was taking a

strong anti-draft position.

In the face of strong criticism, Rangel still strongly supports a nationwide military draft, saying it is both a deterrent to war and a mechanism to force privileged Americans to share the war's burden.

However, Bill Galvin, head of an opposition group called the Center of Conscience and War, said both arguments are totally wrong since the draft has never made the Armed Services more equitable, racially or economically.

Galvin points to the Vietnam War where mostly minority draftees disproportionately served on the front lines while the rich and privileged found loopholes to avoid serving.

"The affluent had and still have the means to gain medical deferments or to serve soft, safe positions," Galvin said, referring to people like President Bush who served stateside in the National Guard and Vice President Cheney who avoided service completely in Vietnam by obtaining a deferment.

"If Rep. Rangel and other pro draft progressives really wanted to fix social and racial inequities, they'd be advocating for jobs, education and opportunity, not equal opportunity war making."

Whether the draft becomes a reality is still in political limbo, however, no one would argue that President Bush's aggressive foreign military policies needs more warm bodies and boots on the ground.

In a Los Angeles Times article, former security advisors Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski were quoted as saying the U.S. requires at least 500,000 more troops to sustain the war in Iraq and reinstatement of the draft may be unpopular but necessary.

"At best, Rangel's bill merely plays into Bush's hands," said Galvin. "At worst, it's a stealth measure intended to supply progressive political cover for pro-draft democrats."

In a political move, democrats quickly rushed the bill to the House floor where it was summarily rejected by an overwhelming majority, Rangel even voting against his own piece of legislation for obvious tactical political reasons.

Privately, however, Galvin and others fear President Bush is just waiting for the right moment "to spring the draft back on the American people" since he no longer has to worry about getting re-elected.

For mmore informative articles, go to www.arcticbeacon.com

Greg Szymanski

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