Here's An Idea

I stumbled across this on HuffPost today by crooked Rep. Charlie Rangel:

It is because of these devastating statistics and the commitment our nation must make to sharing in duty and service that I reintroduced the Universal National Service Act, commonly known as the draft bill. Originally introduced in 2003 after my opposition to the invasion of Iraq, the legislation provides an opportunity for all of our children to be able to say with dignity that they honorably served their nation.

Having a draft does not necessarily mean that everyone called to duty would be required to serve in the Armed forces. Whether that service to our country is in our military, in our schools, in our hospitals, or in our airports, the Universal National Service act would require young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 to commit themselves to two years of national service.

[...]

Currently the burden of defending our nation is carried by an increasingly smaller segment of our population. Only 1 percent of the American population currently makes the sacrifice of laying down life and limb for our country.

Far too many are being forced into repeated tours of duty, sometimes as many as six deployments. This repeated combat exposure to our troops is why 25 percent of America's active duty military personnel suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is why the Army's current suicide rate is far above the civilian rate at 22-per-100,000. The rate for the Marine Corps is even higher.

So call me crazy, but here's an idea - don't go starting pointless bullshit wars on false pretenses, and then you won't have this problem. Or when once justifiable wars, ignored for the better part of a decade, turn into pointless bullshit quagmires, then maybe you should consider cutting our losses and withdrawing the troops. I fail to see how some kind of quasi-draft would solve any of this. And I wouldn't trust for a second that some sort of national service draft wouldn't be turned into something to fatten the ranks of the military. We all saw what happened with the National Guard during Iraq. And I would never want to be part of any such national service conscription - especially with how we refuse to make a priority out of even basic humanitarian services for our own population, but we think it absolutely necessary to spend more than the rest of the developed world combined on defense.