The seemingly thin-spread deployment of U.S. troops in foreign countries, increasing casualties in the war in Iraq and recent extensions of U.S. troops’ duties in Iraq have begun to fuel rumors on the Internet and within college campuses that the government might consider reinstating the military draft.

According to a statement on the Selective Service Web site, college students would no longer be protected from being drafted if a draft were reinstated.

“Before Congress reformed the draft in 1971, a man could qualify for a student deferment if he could show he was a full-time student making satisfactory progress in virtually any field of study… [but] under the new draft law, a college student could have his induction postponed only until the end of the current semester. A senior could be postponed until the end of the full academic year,” the statement said.

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader warned students of this potentiality in a “Message to America’s Students” on his Web site, www.votenader.org.

“Today enlistments in the Reserves and National Guard are declining,” Nader said. “The Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards, as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is being quietly put in place.”

An announcement on the Selective Service Web site, however, contests Nader’s statement.

“Notwithstanding recent stories in the news media and on the Internet, Selective Service is not getting ready to conduct a draft for the U.S. Armed Forces – either with a special skills or regular draft,” the announcement said.

It went on to say that the Agency remains “prepared to manage a draft if and when the President and Congress so direct,” noting that the policy is not new and has been ongoing since 1980, when President Jimmy Carter reinstated registration for the Selective Service. The statement also noted that the president and secretary of defense have stated on multiple occasions that there is “no need for a draft for the War on Terrorism or any likely contingency.”

“If the draft is necessary, I think it should be reinstated, but I don’t think the Iraqi war is on a scale where a draft would be necessary,” said Washington University freshman Krista Carlson.

Freshman Nicole Stowers does not think a draft should be reinstated, regardless of the circumstances.

“It takes people away from their families. If someone wants to fight, they should fight, but they shouldn’t be forced to,” she said.

Prior to the start of the war in Iraq last year, Charles Rangel, a Democratic representative from New York, introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to reinstate the military draft. Rengel had hoped to influence people whose children might have been affected by a draft and accused the Bush administration of being too eager to go to war.

At the time of Rengel’s proposal, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters there would be no need for a draft.

Although the war in Iraq has ensued, freshman Nic Aobico believes his statement still holds true.

“I don’t think [the draft] is necessary right now,” he said.

The last draft instated in the U.S. was widely contested due to the controversial nature of the war it remedied. During the Vietnam conflict (1964-1975), which was both undeclared and widely unpopular, many young men fled to Canada and elsewhere to avoid serving.

Senior Sarah Neely feels current generations will respond similarly if the draft is reinstated.

“I have a feeling that there will be a mass migration to Canada [if the government reinstates the draft],” she said.

During the Vietnam conflict, the draft was replaced by the all-volunteer military established by President Richard Nixon, who called for its establishment in 1968. He abolished the draft in 1973.

In order to return to a draft, Congress must first pass and the president must sign legislation reinstating the draft. Men would be called in sequence determined by a lottery based on birthdays and beginning with those men whose 20th birthdays fall during that year. Eighteen and 19-year-olds would most likely not be drafted.

Next, registrants would have to report for a physical, mental and moral evaluation that would determine if they would be deferred or exempted from military service, or inducted into the Armed Forces. The Selective Service would be required to deliver the first inductees to the military within 193 days of the onset of a crisis.

Men ages 18 to 25 are currently required to register with the Selective Service. Although women are currently not susceptible to a draft, the Selective Service would be capable of registering and drafting women under its current infrastructure if given such instructions and additional funding.

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