Rangel Will Push To Bring Back The Draft

NY Dem Says Politicians Would Be More Reluctant To Launch Wars If Loved Ones, Neighbors Were At Risk

(CBS/AP)  A senior House Democrat said Sunday he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft, asserting that current troop levels are insufficient to sustain possible challenges against 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," Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said on CBS News' Face the Nation.

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

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," he told Bob Schieffer.

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.

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Watch: Face The Nation

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Rangel, incoming chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means 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 in uniform. 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."

Polls have shown that about seven in 10 Americans oppose reinstatement of the draft and officials say they do not expect to restart conscription.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress in June 2005 that "there isn't a chance in the world that the draft will be brought back."

Yet the prospect of the long global fight against terrorism and the continuing U.S. commitment to stabilizing Iraq have kept the idea in the public's mind.

The military drafted conscripts during the Civil War, both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. An agency independent of the Defense Department, the Selective Service System, keeps an updated registry of men age 18-25 — now about 16 million — from which to supply untrained draftees that would supplement the professional all-volunteer armed forces.

[emhawks]

I am the mother of (3) draft-age young people. I strongly oppose re-instatement of the military draft. I don't trust our government or our military leaders to deploy our troops wisely. I've seen how our troops have carelessly been put in harms way & slaughtered in Iraq. And I remember how thousands were drafted into the Vietnam War, carelessly put in harms way & slaughtered. Both are/were political, useless wars in which thousands of servicemen/women were killed or maimed. Both wars were started by & prolonged by individuals who are/were greedy, corrupt & ruthless. During the Vietnam war, the military draft gave the military/political machine an almost unlimited supply of manpower. I don't want that to happen in the Iraq war. What needs to happen is a carefully planned phased withdrawal of US toops; troops that never should have been put there in the first place.

[im3000]

Thats right everyone! Its draft-time. First to be sent? The Bush Daughters. No more frat parties for those Texan hacks. No body armor either...

[tinker3478]

No draft-no way! If the majority of Dems come out for this, here's one fat sister who is going to another party. Nope-not that one!

[jn122736]

Sorry wrong post below.
When voters elected Bush in 2000 we could fairly say shame on bush and the Supreme Court for getting us into the Iraq quagmire, but after re-electing him in 2004 we must say shame on America. As Americans, we are all guilty.

The biggest reason for the 2004 vote was because we actually shared no immediate costs or felt no real pain of the war.
Borrowing to support the war as well as cutting taxes meant no immediate financial costs.
An all-voluntary army, including deployment of our national guard, insured no personal connection to the war for most Americans.
For a lot of people it is nothing more than a TV program or movie. .

I don%u2019t particularly wish to see the draft re-instituted but we really should find a way to relieve the many soldiers now forced to continuous tours of duty. The National Guard members almost to a man volunteered to serve part time and maintain families and jobs in their own states.
It is certainly true that if everyone was required to serve equally as troops on the ground there would be far more pressure to end the quagmire in Iraq.

It is obvious that a large majority of Democrats will vote against this bill. It has no chance of passing.

[abbe7]

A draft would be a good idea ... but you will get the same kind of draft dodgers: Bush, Cheney ...

"If blood must be given
go give your own
you are a good apostle
Mr. President."


If you read French ...

Monsieur le Prisident,
je vous fais une lettre,
que vous lirez peut-jtre,
si vous avez le temps.

Je viens de recevoir
mes papiers militaires
pour partir ` la guerre
avant mercredi soir.

Monsieur le Prisident
je ne veux pas le faire,
je ne suis pas sur terre
pour tuer de pauvres gens.

C'est pas pour vous fbcher,
il faut que je vous dise,
ma dicision est prise,
je m'en vais diserter.

Depuis que je suis ni,
j'ai vu mourir mon phre,
j'ai vu partir mes frhres,
et pleurer mes enfants.

Ma mhre a tant souffert,
qu'elle est dedans sa tombe,
et se moque des bombes,
et se moque des vers.

Quand j'itais prisonnier
on m'a voli ma femme,
on m'a voli mon bme,
et tout mon cher passi.

Demain de bon matin,
je fermerai ma porte
au nez des annies mortes
j'irai sur les chemins.

Je mendierai ma vie,
sur les routes de France,
de Bretagne en Provence,
et je crierai aux gens:

refusez d'obiir,
refusez de la faire,
n'allez pas ` la guerre,
refusez de partir.

S'il faut donner son sang,
allez donner le vttre,
vous jtes bon apttre,
monsieur le Prisident.

Si vous me poursuivez
privenez vos gendarmes
que je n'aurai pas d'armes
et qu'ils pourront tirer.

Boris Vian

[abbe7]

Otherwise ...

Mr. President
I'm writing you a letter
that perhaps you will read
If you have the time.

I've just received
my call-up papers
to leave for the front
Before Wednesday night.

Mr. President
I do not want to go
I am not on this earth
to kill wretched people.

It's not to make you mad
I must tell you
my decision is made
I am going to desert.

Since I was born
I have seen my father die
I have seen my brothers leave
and my children cry.

My mother has suffered so,
that she is in her grave
and she laughs at the bombs
and she laughs at the worms.

When I was a prisoner
they stole my wife
they stole my soul
and all my dear past.

Early tomorrow morning
I will shut my door
on these dead years
I will take to the road.

I will beg my way along
on the roads of France
from Brittany to Provence
and I will cry out to the people:

Refuse to obey
refuse to do it
don't go to war
refuse to go.

If blood must be given
go give your own
you are a good apostle
Mr. President.

If you go after me
warn your police
that I'll be unarmed
and that they can shoot.

[darren7160]

I will send my son to Canada if there is a drafy and EVEN ONE *** DEFFERMENT! I refuse to surrender my son to a draft while future politicans sit it out in college or some asanine other defferment so they can exploit and "Swift boat" him and others! And yes, I am a Democrat, and a disabled vet. These defferment politicans who beat the drums of war and thump their chests need to get their *** in a uniform.

I suggest that each and every AEI and PNAC author go to Iraq and step outside of the Green Zone and tell the Iraqis exactly why they are better off! God *** COWARDS!

Man this pisses me off. The neocons destory Iraq, America's prestige and Iraq... Rep. Rangel's proposal fails to impress me 'cause those ***** will always find a way to protect their children. The poor become "draft dodgers" and the rich become "college deffered."

[hardlynormal-2009]

Draft ?.. No way, fight and die for my country yes, die and kill young and old for there country ?. no!!..There are way too many issues in my own country that are needed before we give all our money and resourses to another county who would not repay or come to our defense with arms. So as many screw-ups the administration keeps pulling,you think anyone in there right mind, and common sense will trust them with promises of free schoolinng etc after a 2 yr term,.. NOT !!!.

[supermanthcs]

It seems to me that if Americans would get out as a whole and support the troops we do have, the troops moral would be high enough to finish the obligations we are currently encompassed with. Whether or not we should be in Iraq is not the issue. The point is we are in Iraq, so let's support our heroes till they finish the job. Then let's bring them home. As far as the draft goes, put out a call for fighting men. If enough Americans don't answer the call, then institute the draft and let's fight for the freedom that we all take for granted. I for one would answer the call because I am proud to be an American!

[a8m3h]

Some of the people are not looking at the draft with their eyes open..
My husband was drafted only 4 weeks after we were married... his only objection (besides the obvious)is that boot camp was too long & rough, men should be treated as humans, not animals. Too much stricktness... Yes, they have to be taught to be rough, strong, and commited...but my husbqand said it was the fairest of ways, no one has to go back a 2nd time....

[ps197boy]

I think that all 18 year olds should drafted into Federal Service with only some of them slated for the military. The schools today are not graduating students with sufficient skills to work in today's work force. This country needs a competitive work force and does not have it. We should be second to none but we are not and have not for a long time.

[ketch65]

My children won't be going across any seas to **protect** our country. If protecting needs done, they can arm them in the National Guard to protect our country here.

If you study history closely, you'll find that these wars, and rumors of wars, are all based upon trade disputes and trading routes for the past oil producing exporting years.

These wars have been going off and on for the past several generations, since WW1 and before!

If they say they need to *thwart* out nuclear bomb making countries, well I can only say *you reap what you sow, Captain America, what makes us any different?*

I'd have to say I'd become Amish and everyone I know should as well!

Draft or no draft, my children won't go!

Consider the bible;;

**For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.

Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

Isaiah 34:2-4

you reap what you sow Captain America, you reap what you sow!!!!

[boochaka]

I think it's not so much the troops we don't support as the people who sent the troops into Harm's way. When I was young I protested the Vietnam war, not because the war itself was bad, but because we sat on our duffs and let our people get killed by the thousands and did squat to win.

No one likes being lied to! Most of us feel lied to about the weapons of mass destruction being there, and they've never been found. It's almost like with Clinton, I could care less about Monica Lewinski, but I did care that Clinton got on national TV and looked us in the eyes and said he'd not had *** with her. I just hate liars.

Personally I wish we weren't in Iraq, I don't find them to be as dangerous as Iran or N. Korea. It really irritates me that our country told N. Korea that they could either have nuclear weapons or have a future, and then watch N. Korea virtually spit in our faces by setting of a nuke and we did little more than place a few sanctions. That's a far cry from not having a future. Our word means squat, zip, nothing, and they know we won't back up what we say so they do this stuff only to work out better deals for themselves. It's blackmail pure and simple and we fall head first into. It's time to get people in charge of this country and keep their word, who won't say this will happen if you do this and then it doesn't happen. No wonder N. Korea set off the nuke, they knew we had no backbone.

[ketch65]

***It seems to me that if Americans would get out as a whole and support the troops we do have, the troops moral would be high enough to finish the obligations we are currently encompassed with.***

It will never be finished, just like it has never been intended to be finished. Maybe you fail to realize why this war was started years upon years ago, and why there are many many many more plans for more wars in the coming years based upon the same strategy.

**Whether or not we should be in Iraq is not the issue. The point is we are in Iraq, so let's support our heroes till they finish the job.**

I'm not in Iraq! **WE** are not in Iraq. Others are. Saddam supposedly **KILLED** his **OWN** people, if they aren't **WE** then no one is!!!!

And as far as **heroes** go, the only hero worth idolizing is GOD! But that's just my own opinion of course, so let flesh and blood be your heroes and whatnot.

I for one think it's foolish to rely on such means to an end....!!!

[juliehg-2009]

Yep, that's the solution, draft all of the Boomers' kids and grandkids. Deja vu anyone?

Go-o-o-o-od Mo-o-o-o-r-r-r-ning I-r-a-a-a-ak!!!!

[ketch65]

**No wonder N. Korea set off the nuke, they knew we had no backbone.**

What's wrong with **setting off a nuke**???

I know a country that actually used them and continues to use them!!!

That's the country the world should unite against!!!

[themooniac]

Go get em Charlie. If Bush's daughters HAD to serve he would thought have twice about his harebrained scheme. The rich and powerful won't like this idea, the thought that their kids would have to serve alongside everyone else and select Dems will vote against the draft anyway so I see no chance of this passing. Good idea though, evreyone should do two years - even Cheney. He can practice his aim.

[aesop2-2009]

A draft would bring a rapid end to the war in Iraq. People who would not volunteer surely would express their unwillingness to participate in an absurd war much like Viet Nam. Those in power realize this an are unwilling to see their war end.

[feelfree1]

Rengal's push for the draft could be a very effective tactic.

1) This move would helped to correct the disproportionate burden that the underprivileged class of the U.S. continue to bear, providing the bulk of the U.S. military ranks, largely due to a lack of other opportunities.

2) This move would allow the chicken-hawks the opportunity to risk some of their own blood and treasure, in support of their blood-thirsty military adventurism.

3) If we are to continue our brutal imperial drive, we will need more troops. This is painfully obvious.

4) Last, but definitely not least, enacting a draft would undoubtedly compell many more of our young people to resist the disgraceful military adventures of our mis-leaders, and the illegal war in Iraq would be over before you could shake a stick at it, due to lack of interest.

[snarfblatt-2009]

Good!! And who says Democrats are 'weak on defense'? BALONEY! It's about time average yahoos in this country start to feel the direct consequences of Bush's foolhardy war. If that means they have to send their flesh and blood over to dodge bombs and bullets, then so be it. Most people are just totally indifferent oblivious to the human cost of this mess, the diplomatic ramifications, and the HUMONGOUS DEBT that the 'Borrow and Spend' Republicans have left for us on the national credit card. GOOD FOR RANGEL. BRING BACK THE DRAFT NOW!!!

[uglicoyote]

As a Viet Nam vet I have a couple of ideas about the draft.

First no deferments. No more *** Cheney, Bill Clinton type draft dodging. No college deferments, no family deferments, no "my dad is important" deferment. Only way to escape the draft would be medical or mental.

Second, draft by lottery with the lower numbers assigned to those whose net worth, or whose parent's net worth is the highest. The lowest numbers would go to the sons and daughters of poiticians in descending order order of rank,i.e., President #1, VP #2 and so forth.

Start the draft with 26 year olds and go down.

Hey supermanthcs. Let me know where you live and I'll get directions to the nearest recruiting office for you. You say, " I, for one would answer the call..." Well boy, Dubya's on the phone and needs your help.

[feelfree1]

aesop2,

And that aint no fable.

Great point. You beat me to the punch.

[pendragon679]

For the record, I never wore a uniform. I was too young for Vietnam, too old for the Persian Gulf. In between those conflicts I carried one of the last "draft cards" printed by Selective Service. I was classified 1-H, which meant that if my number came up, I had to pass a physical before I would actually be drafted. Having said that, I'm in favor of some sort of madatory Federal service; someone else on this board had it right when he/she said that our public schools are not graduating people qualified to function in the "real" world (or words to that effect). A 2-year term of Federal service would go far to correcting that; add in a some form of college tuition & I think very few of our young people would object. And, yes, I agree w/Sen. Rangel that our military is stretched too thin. Right now we have less than 200,000 troops on the ground in Iraq, and we may have to face off w/Iran &/or N. Korea. We don't have enough troops for that, not if we wish to protect our borders as well.

[feelfree1]

uglicoyote,

Your suggestions could well render war obsolete.

I will gladly second your proposal!

[bluestardad]

Women must be required to register for the Draft TOO!

[boochaka]

Ketch65 stated
What's wrong with **setting off a nuke**???
I know a country that actually used them and continues to use them!!!
That's the country the world should unite against!!!
-------------------------
The US using nukes to end a war it didn't start, one which was started by a secret, behind the back, cowardly attack against unsuspecting people, is hardly the same thing.

[liberal4]

dang, this is such a brilliant idea, I love it. If these wars are so important, then everyone should sacrifice. Remember FDR had every son in the forces for WWII and Eleanor said they would be ashamed if that wasn't the case.

[batman336]

Now, let me see..... Rangel has how many kids of draft age? Oh, he's 75 years old. I guess the answer is 0.

[chicatibu]

Poor old Charlie he just can%u2019t keep his foot out of his mouth. How many of those mothers who voted Democratic to get us out of war in Iraq will agree with Charlie America needs to take on Iran and North Korea in a new war?
Democratic rhetoric in these early days is like a pot boiling over, once Nancy gets a lid on it I%u2019m sure they will be more rational.

[zykracosmos]

I knew this was coming. Just like I knew Cheney was convincing Bush behind the scenes to start a war so Halliburton could get back in Iraq and Exxon could export the oil, though he did it by convincing gullible Bush that there was WMDs there and he owed it "to his daddy" to get the man that tried to assassinate him. But anyone with any intelligence at all knew in advance there was no way our little volunteer army could go in and occupy a hostile country as large as Iraq. No way are we going to support a draft to salvage a war that the neocons planted us in and backfired on them. NO WAY! The draft will only be reinstated if we are in a declared war. No execeptions. I don't care what party is attached to the suggestion- it ain't gonna happen. Any leader who supports it will lose his next election. Restore the National Guard to protecting America's borders, and build an efficient, well-paid, well-trained, properly financed military for well-defined conflicts that Congress has the guts to declare as a WAR. If they cannot follow the Constitution and declare war, when it is a legitimate cause, then we certainly do not need to have a stand-by conscripted army to back a foolish president's adventurism. No draft should ever be implemented until this country decides to follow the Constitution before inserting this country into an open-ended military conflict.

[itgranny]

I guess as a mom with a son who just returned from Iraq, I'm all for the draft. As a matter of fact, I'd like to see the draft be formulated in a way that our legislator's next of kin would be the first in line to be drafted.

The sacrifices are all too often coming from those on the bottom and middle classed economic tier, while decisions (such as Iraq) are made by those with nothing to loose and tons of money to be gained.

I believe that if the Bush twins, Chelsey Clinton and many others from the families of our decision makers, had their own kid's lives at stake, this war wouldn't have been fought at all. If their vote for war would have been guarrantee that their own child, grandchild, niece or nephew would be put in the front lines, you can bet American history would be vastly different from how it is now.

I believe, had such a structure been in place,
a)top notch investigations (and disclosure) would have ensued to prevent it.
b)alternate solutions would have been discussed if there was any other way.

If the case was still to go to war,
a)better planning would have been implemented to make our troops and the Iraqi's safer
b)The aftermath would have been planned better so that the real winners would be the Iraqi's like we said they were going to be.

While I hope the new congress will help out the Iraq situation, I also want to see some preventative legislation so the United States never gets this bamboozled again.

[feelfree1]

chicatibu,

Re: "How many of those mothers who voted Democratic to get us out of war in Iraq will agree with Charlie America needs to take on Iran and North Korea in a new war?"

Can you support your claim here, or was this assertion plucked from thin air? Rengal is not supporting and attack on anyone. He is stating the obvious: that we will have to have more troops, if we are to continue on the maniacal global domination campaign of the neo-cons/libs.

If a draft is instated, you can be sure that U.S. military adventurism will come to a screeching halt.

[liberal4]

"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,

other option? Mercenaries?

[j-whitman]

Republicans will fight the draft,, They are afraid if they go, it will end thier political carreers.

[rafterman1]

This may be a political stunt on Rangel's part to hilight opposition to the Iraq war, but he may very well be right. We do need a draft if we are going to continue in our current military posture. Despite Repub charges that the Dems will "cut and run", the truth is, Dems know we can't just up and leave Iraq. We created the mess and we have to clean it up. But there are guys going on their third and even fourth tours in Iraq. The National Guard is exhausted - guys are losing their jobs. The military just became their new unintended career for a lot of them. And unless the military has a new magic way to double volunteer enlistments, the draft is all we got left. Otherwise, the only way guys are going to permanently come home from Iraq is in a box.

[morrowr5]

America has bluffed their way around the world. Around the world, We are known by not finishing anything we start. Foot soldiers should be the last thing we use. Let's put some of our technology to use. Nukem off the map. Then talk about it.

[sandycat2]

War will be obsolete when others stop attacking the US and not before. Or have you forgotten that the US was attacked on 9/11

[itgranny]

Sandycat2
"War will be obsolete when others stop attacking the US and not before. Or have you forgotten that the US was attacked on 9/11"

Have you forgotten that Iraq wasn't the one who attacked us?

sandycat2 9/11 had nothing to do with the war, it was the excuse to go to war....

[joal82]

This clealry shows the limited mentality and self serving attitude of the elected representatives that we constantly put into office. Notice that Rangle waited until AFTER the elections to propose this so not to endanger the Democrats in taking control of both houses. The new leadership that is taking over better take a good hard look at what this old man is presenting. The voters need to remind him as well as other Democrats that the Presidency is coming up for election in two years. What does anyone think the chances of the Democrats winning would be if they reinstituted the draft. If Rangle and the other Democrats felt this strongly about sending our young men in harms way why did they not oppose sending troops to IRAQ to begin with instead of following like sheep? He needs to retire , no better yet his constituency NEEDS to entire him in the next election. The Republicans should have a field day with this one. The public really needs to stop this before it gets started.

[emhawks]

I seriously doubt that we will ever be able to "clean up our mess" in Iraq. I don't believe for one second that re-instating the draft will bring about an end to US military "adventurism". What it will do is give the millitary/political machine an almost unlimited supply of manpower to throw into this useless,unnecessary war. Putting more troops in harms' way didn't work in Vietnam; it only got more of our servicemen killed---thousands upon thousands more. We don't need to abruptly leave Iraq & the Iraqi people. As I said before, I believe what needs to be done is a gradual, carefully planned US troop withdrawal. I intend to write my Congressmen & encourage them to vote against any motions introduced to re-instate the draft, if they want to be re-elected.

[wheelofvoter]

Do you want to win this war or not? Do you want the same people doing all the work while rich kids stay stateside fat and happy? Maybe we can get the standards back up and draft talent who can figure out out how to stabilize Iraq. There is no doubt that the draft will end this war as soft republicans are unwilling to sacrifice their own. A vote for Bush in 2004 should automatically bump your family in the drawings. Peace is smarter and makes good business sense. Peace is the better business model.

[cntryb4prty]

There is little that I agree with Charlie Rangel on put he makes a good point. This not a liberal or a conservative issue. Its time that everyone was responsible to provide some type of service to their country. Whether its true military service, aiding the border patrol, providing disaster assistance or some other type of civic service it would bring more to the meaning of citizen.

[olgreyghost]

This is old news. Rangel has been pushing this BS since the first Persian Gulf War so as to scare people to support his positions. A draft directly into federal military service is un-Constitutional (doesn't mean that it hasn't been done in the past) and to send those who answer to State conscription call-ups outside the country are also prohibited. Maybe he should reread that document he swore to uphold a few more times.

[yerhumps]

This just make me furious. No sooner do we hand the Democrats the grand prize of the U.S. Congress than they send out dopey Charles Rangel with his draft/conscription wreacking ball. These guys did NOT recieve a mandate from the American people. They are very much on probation. Strike one was Nancy Pelosi's bungled majority whip selection. Strke two is Rangel's idiotic draft perposal, and they're barely out of the gate! Pathetic.

[antoniof123]

Well, here we go again and what you act suprised what else is new. One nut leaves another one comes to take his place.

[thgdriver]

Rep. Democrat Charlie Rangel sez.

"I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft."

Well ,Well, Well, what do you know, right after the elections are over, the "Demonrats" show their true colors.

I said, "time is on my side", don't fret, in two years you will all have the opertunity to put the Republicans back in office.

How about the Kerry/Rangel ticket in 2008?

[observantx]

If the draft is reinstated the following persons should go to the head of the line:

George W, Bush, Darth Cheney, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzalez and Tony Snow.

After them, all the children of military age of every member of Congress get drafted. That way, if the members of Congress vote for war, they put their own flesh and blood on the line. Only then can we have any assurance that if a war is voted for, it is really and truly necessary.

[morrowr5]

What about the kids?Dont they have a choice to go to war or not?Some people believe in peace and dont feel the need of war.But others do believe in war.I believe in both but we should give them a chance to choose.