The draft? Just what this country needs

I applaud Rep. Charles Rengel's calls to reinstate the draft, despite its overwhelming unpopularity with the public. I think Rengel makes a valid point:

"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."

Regardless of one's economic situation, ethnic background, gender, everybody should have to perform some sort of 2-4 year service for their country. Individuals' skills would have to be factored in to determine what role would fit them best, but a completely random lottery would make everybody vulnerable to compulsive military service. Every community and a wide swath of families would have their prized youth potentially in harms way. Preserving our freedom and protecting the very existence of our society should not be a task carried out by just those who are selfless and brave enough to sign up for the job. It is a responsibility that should be distributed equally amongst everyone we know, and not one person should be immune to the costs.

The number one objective in reinstating the draft is to make unnecessary war less likely. My intuition tells me, though, that Americans would still be willing to sacrifice, if the cause was truly in the best interest of the nation. Something tells me Americans would've seen the value in the Afghanistan intervention but would have thought twice about Iraq, or at least demanded a withdrawal a long time ago. American lives are not worth timid and cowardly guesses that maybe "another six months" (Tom Friedman) will bring victory.

The value of the draft is not purely symbolic either. The vast manpower would be a valuable asset in restoring America's image and credibility in the world by undertaking the same types of humanitarian missions as the Canadians. Catastrophic earthquake in Pakistan? How about 30,000 able bodied American draftees to help rebuild? And it won't cost anything.