This has quietly become one of the biggest non-issues of this campagin for no good reason. Let’s make this very clear: there is NO secret plan to reinstate the military draft. The Bush administration is not secretly assembling all the pieces, waiting for after the election to ship off your sons, brothers, and husbands (and presumably daughters, sisters, and wives) to Iraq (or Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, North Korea).

This whole thing got started when Rep. Charlie Rangel proposed legislation that would have reinstated the draft. He introduced this bill in an effort to create a backlash agaisnt the war in Iraq. He thought that the prospect of a draft would be enough to frighten us all into giving up on the war effort. The Senate version of the bill is here. Both of these bills were introduced by Democrats, both of whom are against the war in Iraq. Neither bill is being pushed in either house of Congress.

At the same time, it was reported that the Pentagon was trying to fill vacant seats on draft boards across the country. Well, that’s partly true. It’s actually the Selective Service and not the Pentagon that has been trying to fill those vacant seats. But they’ve been trying to fill these unpaid, volunteer seats for several years now. It’s nothing new since the Iraq war or since 9/11. The real truth is that many of the previous members of these boards were forced to step down because of a 20-year term limit. In 1979 the current board system was established, so it makes sense that in 1999, a large number of the original members had to step down.

Further, any reports that the Selective Service budget is growing in the coming fiscal years is also totally false. In fact, the budget is staying flat at $26 million, and the department is making marginal reductions in its personnel.

Go read this for further explanation about why this whole story is being blow out of proportion.

The fact that CBS News even ran this story, basing it largely on speculation, emotion, and debunked e-mail messages is pretty reprehensible. Both candidates have come out and said that they oppose a draft. Every defense official in this administration that’s been asked about a draft have opposed it. There’s no need for one, but it’s a great scare tactic to frighten those swing voters into voting for John Kerry.