Draft Military

The United States may need to consider renewing the military draft, Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, presidential coordinator for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said in an interview on National Public Radio. "I think it makes sense to certainly consider it, and I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table," Lute said in response to a question about whether a draft would make sense militarily. Still, a draft is "a national policy decision point that we have not yet reached," Lute said.

A prominent Democrat's call for reinstating a military draft got a cold reception Monday as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were quick to denounce any notion of a return to military conscription. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), who will become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, pledged on CBS' "Face the Nation" to introduce legislation that would reinstate conscription.

President Bush's call to build up the size of the Army and Marine Corps confronts the U.S. military with a sizable and potentially costly challenge, especially given its recent history of war-related recruiting problems. But one solution remains firmly off the table: reinstituting a draft. Bush last week endorsed proposals to increase the size of the two services.

The U.S. could not revive a military draft without requiring some sort of national service for other young adults, a vastly expensive undertaking, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said. Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) responded, "The answer is no," when asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" program if the U.S. would need conscripts to meet its military needs.

"Greeting: You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States ...." So began the draft notice, one of the least welcome letters ever received by young men in America and one of the few Selective Service fixtures that would remain unchanged if the draft is reinstituted. Defense Department officials insist there are no plans to bring back conscription, despite persistent claims that U.S. forces have been stretched thin by the war in Iraq.

No law has been signed to revive the draft, and the president, the Pentagon and the presumed Democratic presidential nominee all oppose forced military service. Yet as fatalities in Iraq increase and as troops see their tours extended, there is a growing concern across the country that a draft may be in the offing. At summer barbecues, kids' baseball tournaments and worksites, conversations focus on whether a new generation will be called to mandatory military duty.

Seeking to dispel suggestions that the war in Iraq could lead to reinstatement of the draft, House Republicans on Tuesday hastily brought the idea to a vote -- with the express intent of shooting it down. The vote, launched with only hours of notice and no public hearings, was designed to put an end to talk that President Bush's foreign policy could overtax the all-volunteer Army that has been national policy since the end of the Vietnam War.

An army of new voters received a startling call to serve recently, when one of the largest nonpartisan groups trying to increase voting by young people sent fake draft cards to nearly 640,000 e-mail addresses. "You've been drafted" was the subject line of the message sent by Rock the Vote. The message contained an image of a draft card addressed to the recipient and warned, "real cards may be in the mail soon if the situation doesn't improve." President Bush and Sen. John F.

In red letters, the e-mail read, "YOU HAVE BEEN DRAFTED." The startling announcement was followed by smaller print: "You are hereby ordered for induction into the Armed Forces of the United States, and to report at a polling a place near you on November 2, 2004 at 7:00 a.m." Officials at Rock the Vote, a nonpartisan but generally liberal organization founded by musicians, sent the bogus draft card to 650,000 people last month.

Trying to head off a proposal to reinstate the military draft, the Pentagon on Monday disputed charges that blacks and poorer Americans bear an unfair burden in fighting the country's wars. "Contrary to myth, data show that the enlisted force is quite representative of the civilian population," the Defense Department said in an 11-page paper arguing the merits of the all-volunteer force that has been in place for nearly 30 years. The position paper was in response to a proposal by Rep.