Conscription Is the Wrong Prescription

As casualties have mounted in Iraq, and frequent call-ups of National Guard and reserve troops have placed unusual strains on the nation's citizen-soldiers, there has been a push to reinstate military conscription. Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) have introduced a bill that would restore the draft. And one of Congress' most respected military veterans, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), has called for a national debate on the idea.

Does a draft make sense? Though we do need a substantially larger standing military to sustain the Iraq mission for its duration, the draft is not the answer. Returning to the draft would in all likelihood reduce the quality and performance of the armed forces.

Rather than a draft, the Bush administration should expand the active-duty Army and Marine Corps so that we do not have to keep sending the same people back to Iraq (and Afghanistan, South Korea and elsewhere).

Proponents of a draft say it is unfair to ask only those who volunteer to make virtually all the sacrifices required of the country in this time of war. We do indeed owe them a great deal. Undoubtedly, it is tragically unfair when some lose their lives while the rest of us do not even surrender our tax cuts.

But the fact that certain groups -- especially rural whites and minorities -- serve disproportionately in the military also indicates that the military is offering opportunities to people who need them.

Society asks a great deal of its military personnel, especially in the context of ongoing war in Afghanistan and Iraq. But it also compensates them better than ever before -- with pay, healthcare, educational opportunities, retirement pay and the chance to learn skills within the armed forces that are often highly marketable thereafter. Today's enlisted military personnel are generally compensated more generously than individuals of similar age and experience and educational background working in the private sector, once health and retirement benefits are factored in.

We should be careful not to break an institution in the process of purportedly fixing it. Today's U.S. military is probably the most impressive ever -- not only in its technology but also in the quality of its personnel, their basic soldiering abilities and their skills in fields such as piloting, computing, equipment maintenance, engineering, linguistics and civil affairs.