The Goal of Rangel's Draft Proposal

The goal of Congressman Rangel's proposal to reinstitute the draft appears to be to make politicians think harder before going to war because their own kids, and perhaps kids of other "elites", might have to serve:

Would reinstituting the military draft even things out, spreading the responsibility while influencing politicians to think twice before sending men and women into harm's way?

Rep. Charles Rangel (D) of New York thinks so.

But would that really be the result? It's hard to imagine it would have had much of an effect on the decision to invade Iraq. Would anyone in office have changed their view on that basis?

Regardless, of course, there's this counterargument, which I find pretty compelling:

A draft "contradicts the principles of a free society by coercing people to fight for freedom," says Ivan Eland, national security analyst at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif. "Soldiers who want to be in the military do a better job than those who don't, and the military services know it."