With scenes of young soldiers at war flashing across television screens, many young men in Iowa are forced to consider the possibility that they could be called to fight.
Politicians and scholars say that a mandatory draft is unlikely in modern America, but males required at age 18 to register for a potential draft worry that increasing dangers could change the landscape. What if the war on terrorism expands, or a now-muffled call for a draft gains steam?
Would today's teens, raised in a time of a volunteer military by parents who remember the Vietnam War-era draft, risk their lives without hesitation? Would they seek a deferment? Would they flee to Canada?
... A national survey of high school seniors showed that the students were sympathetic to reinstating the draft, but most preferred a system of national service. Eighteen percent of the 1,001 students surveyed by New York's Hamilton College earlier this year said restarting the draft would be a good idea, while 56 percent said they would support a system that gave people a choice between the military and civil service.
The draft today would be far different from the one used during much of the Vietnam War, Linn said.
A national lottery would determine the order of call based on a person's year of birth. College students would no longer receive automatic deferment for as long as they remained students, a practice considered elitist and racist during the Vietnam War.
Politicians and scholars say that a mandatory draft is unlikely in modern America, but males required at age 18 to register for a potential draft worry that increasing dangers could change the landscape. What if the war on terrorism expands, or a now-muffled call for a draft gains steam?
Would today's teens, raised in a time of a volunteer military by parents who remember the Vietnam War-era draft, risk their lives without hesitation? Would they seek a deferment? Would they flee to Canada?
... A national survey of high school seniors showed that the students were sympathetic to reinstating the draft, but most preferred a system of national service. Eighteen percent of the 1,001 students surveyed by New York's Hamilton College earlier this year said restarting the draft would be a good idea, while 56 percent said they would support a system that gave people a choice between the military and civil service.
The draft today would be far different from the one used during much of the Vietnam War, Linn said.
A national lottery would determine the order of call based on a person's year of birth. College students would no longer receive automatic deferment for as long as they remained students, a practice considered elitist and racist during the Vietnam War.
