Fears of draft reinstatement persist despite official denials

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002046072_draft25.html

Fears of draft reinstatement persist despite official denials

By Wayne Woolley
Newhouse News Service

NEWARK, N.J. — The phones at the Selective Service System ring more frequently these days. Some callers are nothing short of hysterical.
Officials at the federal agency that would be responsible for running any future military draft say they have been receiving thousands of calls in recent months from people who are under the impression that mandatory conscription is imminent for men and women ages 18 to 26.

Janice Hughes, a public- and intergovernmental-affairs specialist with the agency, fielded one call from an American woman calling from Italy on a cellphone. "She heard there would be a draft of women, and she didn't want to come back," Hughes said.

Hughes gave her stock reply: "It's not true. We would know."

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002046072_draft25.html

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1. And Snopes summed it up this way...

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

<snip> (emphasis mine)

Since a reimposition of conscription would require Congressional approval, which has not yet been given, it is unlikely that a draft (even if approved by Congress) would be underway as early as Spring 2005:
And even if the draft were reinstated tomorrow, it would take at least two years before it could produce additional soldiers for Iraq and Afghanistan, the experts say.

"It will take 193 days from the time that we get started until the first person is presented to the Department of Defense," said Alyce Burton, a spokeswoman for the Selective Service. It would then take a year and a half to two years to train the draftees and form them into new combat units, Krepinovich said. Even if the draft started up again, it might be of a much more limited nature than in previous years, with only those who could fill specialized positions in certain fields (e.g., health care, linguistics, computer technology) being conscripted.

There is as yet no definitive answer to the question of whether or not the U.S. will reinstitute a draft. Obviously some thought has been given to the issue, but the possibility that such thoughts will be turned into reality appears rather small at this point. Still, conditions and attitudes can change very quickly — another event of the magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in government policy and public opinion.

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"...another event of the magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in government policy and public opinion."

It worked so well the first time...

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2. This is great

The denials of a pending draft are getting some press. Even though there doesn't appear to be any equal time as to these charges (the only news presented is the denials themselves), having people consider the possibility that the Bush Doctrine and American Imperialism will conscript their sons and daughters into service can do nothing but harm to Bush's reelection chances.