Why do Democrats want to reinstate the draft?

They say:

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

As the article then points out:

Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War who has unsuccessfully sponsored legislation on conscription in the past, said he will propose the measure early next year.

What the article doesn't point out is that Rangel introduces the legislation...then votes against it. He is, in other words, making political hay. He is, to put it politely, full of shit.

Radicals want a draft because they know their history. They know that the anti-Vietnam war movement was driven primarily by a hatred for the draft. When the draft ended, so did the vast majority of anti-war protests. In order to stir up more current anti-war protest, they need a draft to piss people off. So you get manipulative, disingenous cretins introducing legislation to reinstate the draft. Then they vote against it. How principled of them!

The military doesn't want a draft. A draft means they must accept anyone who is drafted; you have to find a place for him/her/it. Right now, the only branch of the military that occasionally can't meet its recruitment goals is the Army. The Marines aren't having a problem. The Air Force and Navy actually turn people away.

So if Rangel (and his ilk) were honest and felt that we needed a bigger military, the first thing they'd do is vote to increase the size of the military, which would increase the recruitment goals, which would get more people into the U.S. military.

That's step one, even if you're silly enough to actually think the draft is a good thing.

For myself, I agree with the late, great Robert A. Heinlein (the writer who whack jobs insist on calling "fascist"):

No state has an inherent right to survive through conscript troops and in the long run no state ever has.

'Nuff said.