The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Draft emerges as volatile election issue

Capt. Greg Robertson answers all sorts of questions about the Army.

As a recruiter based out of Cape Girardeau, he comes to Carbondale about once a week, and the queries he gets from potential recruits always run a predictable gamut. What's the pay? How much do I get for college? Will I get to travel?

One other question seems to come up more and more.

Will there be a draft?

"It's amazing how many students think there's going to be one," said Robertson, who volunteered for the Army 11 years ago and recently completed a nine-month tour of duty in Iraq. "There's no need for this fear out there."

Other Army officials say the same thing.

But in a hotly contested presidential election that leaves almost no issue off-limits, the possibility of a draft has emerged as a divisive political topic to which both sides have been forced to respond.

President Bush has said repeatedly that he has no plan to reinstate the draft, and while Sen. Kerry has said the number of Army personnel needs to be raised, he consistently says that a draft is not the correct means to the ends.

Still, the issue keeps coming up.

Most recently, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on legislation Oct. 5 that would reintroduce the federal draft, which hasn't been active since 1973 and was widely controversial in its time. The bill, introduced last year by New York Democrat Charles Rangel, was overwhelmingly defeated 402-2 and has been criticized as a Democratic tactic to discredit Republican stances on the issue ever since.

According to Dick Flahavan, spokesman for the Selective Service System, the vote itself should be proof that a draft is unlikely at this juncture.

"It can't be done in the dead of night, and obviously Congress wouldn't go along with it today," Flahavan said. "It's a rumor that started with a kernel of truth and has morphed into something completely different."

That kernel, Flahavan said, involves recent moves to look into drafting computer and linguistics professionals, but in no way does that entail a draft. Even in the case that the draft was reintroduced, something Flahavan said the Department of Defense opposes, logistics make it look difficult on paper.

While more than 14 million American males between the ages of 18 and 25 are currently registered with Selective Services, screening procedures would prevent any of them from being deployed for almost a year. In addition, getting the program up and running would entail raising the Selective Service budget to about 20 times its current amount, something Flahavan said is easier said than done.

"Selective Services has not been asked to get ready," Flahavan said. "Selective Services can't turn a draft on. Neither can the president. It's all up to Congress, and they are obviously not interested now."

Regardless, rumors continue to circle on the Internet. But Robertson said much of this is the political talk coming out of a highly charged election year.

Lt. Col. Jim Shutt of the SIUC Army ROTC is confident that the promises made by both Bush and Kerry are legitimate. A 21-year volunteer of the Army, Shutt said the current system is a good one. Volunteers want to be there, and they're energetic to do the work required. With a system that works and optimistic promises from both candidates, Shutt said he sees no reason to doubt the official word right now.

"I expect they're being truthful," Shutt said. "At least President Bush is being provided with accurate information. I don't know about Sen. Kerry, but the president should know what we really need."

 

 

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