If Canada’s Harper Government Wants To Go Rambo On Us With More War, Then Bring Back The Draft! – Starting With Harper’s Own Family’s Kids

A Brief Comment by NAL publisher Doug Draper

Once again, I am getting sick and tired of all this John Wayne, tough-talkin’ talk from the likes of Canada’s supreme leader and his minions like Rob Nicholson about extending some war in Iraq, etc.

Canada’s Stephen Harper plays army a few years back in Afghanistan. Will he send young people in his own family to go to Iraq and other war zones to play army, or just send other peoples’ children? Bring back the military draft.

It is also quite depressing that, according to some public opinion surveys, a majority of Canadians want to go along with more warring and a C-51, so-called “anti –terrorist bill” that would compromise even more of the civil liberties Canadians fought and died to defend in wars from the last century.

So alright then,, Harper and company want to “extend and expand” Canadian involvement in the so-called ‘war on terror’ in the Middle East, let’s get some of their fucking skin in the game. Let’s see their children suit up and go over to serve in harm’s way. Let’s see this government have the guts to tell their baseline, blue-blooded supporters to contribute to a war tax to pay for this venture.

I have called for bringing back the military draft in another recent post on this site, and I call for it again. And I just bet that if we had a military draft that meant anyone, including a member of the PM or an MP or a Senator’s family got drafted – not to mention the children of their corporate masters, we might see Harper, Nicholson and these other chicken hawks be not so quick to exercise the military option.

I now share with you a media release – a quite important one – from the office of U.S. Congressman for New York Charles Rangel recently expressing the same views I have about this. – ‘You want more war? Then send kids in your family to the killing floors and never mind laundering your money in foreign havens to avoid paying taxes in your country. Pay your fair shaire of blood money in war taxes for playing your bang, bang, bomb-them games. 

In other words, Harper, Nicholson and company, if you and your upper one-percent bosses want to play army, then get right up there in the shooting fight. Stop leaving it to the rest of us to sacrifice the blood and treasure.

Sorry I got carried away, but there is only so much I can  take from these war-mongering, chicken hawks.

Now here finally is Congressman Rangel’s media release – Rangel Introduces Bills to Require Military Draft and Tax in Times Of War

 Military Draft And Tax In Times Of War

March 19th , 2015 Issues: Foreign Policy

Washington, D.C. – On the 12th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, who represents New York’s 13th Congressional District that includes Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives two separate bills that would compel everyone in America to share the burden of war.

U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel says if we want to send people off to war then bring back the draft and bring in a war tax

Rangel’s Draft Act calls for reinstating the military draft for all males and females from 18-25, and the War Tax Act levies a tax for war funds whenever Congress authorizes a declaration of war or use of military force.

“Armed conflict is unpredictable, chaotic, and costly. When I served, the entire nation shared the sacrifices through the draft and increased taxes. But today, only a fraction of America shoulders the burden. If war is truly necessary, we must all come together to support and defend our nation,” said Rangel. ” As a Korean War veteran, I know the toll war takes.”

Since the Iraq War began on March 19, 2003, 4,478 Americans have been killed and 32,244 have been wounded according to the Department of Defense (as of today). Another 2,355 Americans have been killed and 20,067 have been wounded in Afghanistan. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of soldiers returned home with invisible wounds, suffering from traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Rangel is introducing the two bills as Congress debates President Obama’s recent request for authorization of the use of military force (AUMF) to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and just after 47 Republican Senators sent a letter to Iran’s leaders attempting to undermine the President’s negotiations on halting Iran’s nuclear program. Rangel believes that, by undermining diplomacy, the letter recklessly brings the United States and Iran closer to war.

“I have long called for reinstating the military draft, simply because I believe strongly that a national decision to go to war must also include a broad commitment to share its burdens,” said Rangel. “I feel the same about paying for wars.  Those making the decision to fight need to feel the burden–not just our future generations as we’ve done with Iraq and Afghanistan.” 

Rangel’s Draft Act requires all men and women between the ages 18 to 25 to register for the Selective Service System and for the reinstatement of a lottery to draft them into the military whenever an authorization on the use of military force or declaration of war is in effect. According to the Selective Service System, there are currently nearly 16 million men registered within the Selective Service System. By requiring women to register, Rangel’s bill would double the number of U.S residents available for military service. It would also be in line with the Pentagon’s updated policy to include women in combat.

The War Tax Act requires that current and future war funding be paid for with revenue increases. A permanent federal income tax, made possible by the 16th Amendment in 1913, was employed to help defray the costs of America’s involvement in World War I.  In 1968 a temporary 10% surtax was imposed to offset the escalating costs of the Vietnam War.  Taxes were raised in 1990 in part to pay for deficits increased by the first Gulf War. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars are a major exception to this tradition.  Together they are variously estimated to have cost us cost from $4 to $6 trillion–the most expensive wars in our history. 

“The current attitude of ‘fight now, pay later (or never)’ should make us all wary of decisions to commit to wars undertaken by those who won’t experience their consequences,” said Rangel. “Whenever Congress decides to fund a war or other U.S. combat activities, it must provide a means to pay for it–then and there–not later.”

Rangel added: “If we don’t have the will to fully share the burdens of war, then we have no right to send our sons and daughters into harm’s way.”

Rangel has introduced bills to reinstate the draft in every Congress since January 7, 2003, as President George W. Bush’s Administration was preparing to invade Iraq. Rangel was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War. In the 113th Congress, Rangel called for a war tax, but this is the first time he has introduced a bill that would enact a mandatory pay-as-you-go tax on the Pentagon’s war account. This year the Pentagon received more than $65 billion for its war operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and other countries. The war fund, otherwise known as the Overseas Contingency Operations Account, is exempt from the spending caps passed by Congress in 2011.

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