April 2007 Issue
Drafting a Solution
Sean Smith '10Throughout its history, militaries have always been confronted with difficult decisions, some strategic, some political. Currently, our military is struggling with a problem that encompasses both the strategic and political, as it tries to balance the need for a sufficient quantity of soldiers, preferably ones that are representative of America, with the need for motivated and dedicated ones. This trade-off of equality and quantity versus quality, is one that the United States military has been struggling with for decades. However, the issue of whether our all-volunteer military is adequate has once again come to the forefront, with President Bush having requested a troop surge in Iraq, while others, including Colin Powell, have said that our troops are already stretched much too thin. Also, U.S. Representative Charles Rangel has periodically been introducing legislation into the House of Representatives to reinstate the draft, citing the need for more upper-class representation in our armed services.