Military

DATE=1//8/03

TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

TITLE=COSSA DRAFT

NUMBER=3-478

BYLINE=VICTOR BEATTIE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

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HOST: Congressman Charles Rangel says he will introduce a bill to revive the military draft to make U-S families share the sacrifice in the event of war with Iraq. The New York Democrat opposes war with Iraq, and he said Tuesday that today's all-volunteer professional military has too many soldiers from poor and minority communities. In his words, "there is a glaring absence of the affluent." Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld immediately criticized Mr. Rangel's proposal, saying the needs of the Pentagon are being met with volunteers. The United States ended the draft in 1973, after withdrawing from Vietnam.

V-O-A News Now's Victor Beattie discussed Congressman Rangel's proposal with Ralph Cossa, president of the Hawaii-based Pacific Forum, a non-profit, private foreign policy research institute. Mr. Cossa insists the proposal is a political ploy aimed at forestalling a military solution to the Iraq issue:

MR. COSSA: This is Representative Rangel understanding that he can get a lot of publicity for something that he knows would not possibly pass and that the majority of people in the United States would not support. And in fact, there is no real reason for a draft at this point. And I would even question his presumption (a) that there is a disproportionate number of soldiers who are poor and minorities or [(b)], more importantly, the presumption that somehow or other the Congress would be less likely to vote for a war if their children were involved. I think that many of the members of Congress are veterans themselves. They understand the impact of a war, just as many members of the administration are. And no one goes into a war lightly.

So, my view is that it is more grandstanding than it is a serious proposal and, in many respects, would be counterproductive. I think it would probably create more problems than it solves, and would limit the opportunities for a lot of people who were in less fortunate positions to lift themselves out of them by joining the military. Which is the reason why I think many minorities join the military, is for that opportunity to better themselves.

MR. BEATTIE: Mr. Cossa, there is also the argument that, with all the commitments the United States has worldwide, that the services, with just a volunteer membership, is stretched thin.

MR. COSSA: One of the things that the Congress, in its wisdom I think, after the Vietnam War, did was when we started cutting back the number of U.S. forces, to put a lot of the combat support and combat service support units in the Reserves. This was done in order to make the President think twice about going to war. Because, as will be the case in Iraq, the day that we'll know that the President is really serious is when he makes the very difficult political move to call up the Reserves.

If you have enough forces in the active force that you don't have to recall the Reserves, then it becomes an easier decision to go to war than it is today. And I think that would be counterproductive to what Congressman Rangel is arguing.

MR. BEATTIE: As my last question, let me rephrase what I said earlier. Assuming that there could be a conflict with Iraq in the coming months, perhaps a showdown with North Korea, or an expansion of the war on terror worldwide, does the United States have the military forces that it needs to meet all the commitments?

MR. COSSA: I think it will be stretched thin. It will certainly require calling up Reserves but, as I mentioned, this is by design. But I would think that we are capable of doing these type of things, depending on how broad a military campaign is involved. And I think that the Defense Department is smart enough to know how to allocate its resources and not to do too many things simultaneously. So, I don't think we've bitten off more than we can chew at this point, nor do I think that Congressman Rangel's proposal is aimed at addressing that particular concern.

HOST: Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The United States ended the draft in 1973, after withdrawing from Vietnam. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter reinstated draft registration in response to tensions with Russia and Iran.

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