Polls show the young fear return of draft

Reinstating the military draft -- an idea scorned by President Bush and his rival, Sen. John Kerry, and with little support in Congress -- is emerging as an issue in the fall election campaign, mainly because lots of young people believe conscription is in their future. Their fears are tied to the war in Iraq, constant reports that the military is so overstretched that personnel are being kept on active duty past scheduled discharge dates and fear that the United States could end up at war in more Islamic countries.  Polls show that among young people the prospect of a draft is a potent issue. A new nationwide survey of 825 people ages 18- to 24 conducted for Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland found that for 46 percent of them the possibility of a draft rates as an important issue in deciding whether to vote in November, bunched together with the issues of fear of terrorism and the war in Iraq, but trailing the economy. [more ]