WASHINGTON -- New York Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel opposed the U.S. congressional resolution supporting war in Iraq. He lost. So now he wants to draft young people into the coming conflict to ensure that Americans "shoulder the burden of the war equally."
Alas, conscription wouldn't do that. It would, however, make a less effective military, one less able to win the war.
Restarting conscription is bizarre on its face. America currently deploys the most powerful and effective military on earth. The All-Volunteer Force combines extraordinary high-tech weapons with extraordinary soldiers, professionals who are substantially brighter and better educated than their draft-era counterparts.