Shooting the messenger

Charles Rangel called again for the re-instatement of the military draft.

D-N.Y.) has long advocated returning to the draft, but his efforts drew little attention during the 12 years that House Democrats were in the minority. Starting in January, however, he will chair the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Yesterday he said "you bet your life" he will renew his drive for a draft.

"I will be introducing that bill as soon as we start the new session," Rangel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." He portrayed the draft, suspended since 1973, as a means of spreading military obligations more equitably and prompting political leaders to think twice before starting wars.

"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,"

The list of bloggers who are taking aim at Congressman Rangel is very long. They include- Bullwinkle, Jo, Flopping Aces, Don Surber, Iowa Voice, Stop the ACLU, A Blog For All, Kim at Wizbang, Mudville Gazette, Betsy, Sister Toldjah,

Please read the rest of Rangel's comment-

said Rangel, a Korean War veteran. "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."

TFM says instead of attacking Rangel, maybe we should be asking the question- Does the US have enough troops to do the job properly in Iraq.

Lets look at Iraq in 2003- We invaded with something like 125,000(I can't find the figure but correct me if I'm wrong). Today we have 150,000 troops stationed there.

Daily attacks in Iraq have risen from 1000 monthly in the late 2003 to over 3,000 a month in late 2004 and even higher today. I think that says clearly the troops we have in Iraq are insufficent for the job.

Can anyone out there tell me where more troops are to come from? Unless we extend the tours of troops in Iraq and maybe even not then, its clear the US military doesn't have the numbers.

South Carolina Senator and Republican, Lindsay Graham said so yesterday.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), 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.

If there isn't enough people in the military to do the job as Graham says, what is the US to do?

Which leaves the US with one of two ugly or unpleasent choices- Withdrawal or re-instatement of the draft. TFM thinks the US badly botched Iraq and that what former Sec. of State Henry Kissinger said yesterday could be true. A military win in Iraq may be impossible. There is no denying, the Bush administration has made a mess of Iraq.

Can the conservative blogosphere stop drinking the kool-aid for once? I guess some of still haven't learned a lesson from the November election that so many people were wrong about also. A few bloggers accuse Rangel of scare tactics, but why use such tactics weeks after an election? It kind of reminds me of this. Where people claim something is being done for political effect. Are conservative bloggers acting just like Congressman Stark did five months ago?

Rangel didn't present the message in the best way possible, but shooting the messenger isn't going to make the situation in Iraq any better.

Update- James Joyner at OTB points out a Thomas Ricks' article in today's Washington Post. A third strategy other than Going Big or Going home is Going Long. Which I think is the US most likely choice but I think the US can only win with Going Big at this point and I don't see that happening.(As does James)