Decoding Rumsfeld on the Draft

Four days before the election, on October 29, Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld responded to "rumors" about the draft by writing an op-ed piece that appeared in several newspapers around the country. Some of Rumsfeld's points supporting his contention that there is no possibility for a draft are worth commenting on.

1. Rumsfeld states that the "United States simply does not need a draft…we don't need compulsion to attract and retain the people we need to serve our country."

Rumsfeld, however, fails to mention that the Armed Forces are currently using compulsion to retain over 10,000 members through "stop-loss" orders. Senator Kerry termed this as a "back door draft" during his presidential campaign. If soldiers are not allowed to leave at the end of their contract, retention cannot help but be "doing well."

2. Rumsfeld states that the "active Army and Marine Corps" have exceeded their recruitment needs.

The picture that is painted by Rumsfeld, which states that troop retention and recruitment are going well, is at best skewed and at worst it is false information.

Rumsfeld fails to mention that National Guard recruitment goals around the country have fallen short this year -- many of them short by more than 6,000 recruits. In addition, the Army Reserves fell short of its recruitment goal by 45%. Over 40% of the troops currently serving in Iraq are composed of National Guard and Reserve units. In addition, the Army has supplemented its recruitment by calling up over 5600 Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) and the use of "contractors" (mercenaries), paying them at the enormous rate, in some cases, of $1,000 a day.

3. Rumsfeld states that the military is not well organized. He says, "The issue is that our forces, particularly the Army, are not properly organized for the post-Cold War era."

When Bush named Rumsfeld the Secretary of Defense in 2000, Rumsfeld vowed to transform and reorganize the military from a Cold War era fighting force to a 21st Century fighting force. In the past four years Rumsfeld has reorganized the military, claiming to create the military of the 21st Century, even while going against the advice of his own generals. So Rumsfeld claims that the military needs to be transformed from a Cold War era force, ignoring that he has already claimed to have "transformed" it.

The fact remains that the military is stretched beyond its limit as the website www.military.com reported on October 20th. Increasing numbers of Reserve and National Guard units are being mobilized for deployment and the Bush administration continues its talk about the Global War on Terrorism. Invasion of Iran or Syria remains a real possibility. The numbers do not add up for the United States to continue in its present warpath. A draft is a likely possibility in the New Year. The new Congress has been elected and efforts to stop the draft from coming back need to be increased.

Now is not the time to slack in our efforts. It is essential to continue educating Congress about what conscientious objectors believe and why a draft is not a good idea. Let's make Rumsfeld right.

Talking Points on the Draft

View and download this in Adobe PDF format.