A U.S. Representative is attempting to resurrect the military draft by promoting a bill in Congress that would call for compulsory service by men and women between the ages of 18 and 26, with no college deferments. Rep. Pete Stark and his supporters “say they are trying to put the brakes on war with Iraq by arguing that the risks of combat are disproportionately borne by members of minority groups and others who enlisted because they lack economic alternatives.”

This bill won’t pass, of course - it’s been rejected by conservatives and liberals alike. I also don’t buy Stark’s argument that people who enlist in the armed forces do so because of economic hardship or other such nonsense. People join the army for a variety of reasons, not just because they lack the means to get a job anywhere.