Scare Tactic - Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush

I wrote earlier that an e-mail was circulating warning that Bush was wanting to bring back the draft. Never mind that Democrats submitted the bill to make people think it could happen. The truth is the draft will not be implemented any time soon because the public and the Administration are strongly opposed to it. Knowing the truth John Kerry implied today the opposite:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Sept. 22, 2004 — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, citing the war in Iraq and other trouble spots in the world, raised the possibility Wednesday that a military draft could be reinstated if voters re-elect President Bush.

Kerry said he would not bring back the draft and questioned how fairly it was administered in the past.

If scaring young people wasn't enough John Edwards scared the Mothers. First they send out the email insinuating that Bush wants a draft then they spread their own propaganda that they will not re-enact the draft.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.

During a question-and-answer session, the mother of a 23-year-old who recently graduated from West Virginia University asked Edwards whether the draft would be reinstated.

"There will be no draft when John Kerry is president," Edwards said, a statement that drew a standing ovation.

If either of these men were honest they would ensure the concerned mothers out there that what they are worried about is not about to happen and that the hoax has been spread wildly via the internet.

Urband Legends Web site analysis reads:

Most knowledgeable observers put the chances of a reinstatement of the military draft in the near future at close to zero (see news sources below). As stated above, both the president and the secretary of defense have repeatedly said there is no present need for a draft. And although there are indeed two bills before Congress calling for a revival of some form of compulsory military service, both were introduced by Democrats with neither the interest nor the support of the current administration and have languished in committee for over a year with no action taken. No one expects anything to come of them, certainly not by 2005.

Update: The Republicans in a move to put the rumours behind us actually brought the Democrats bill for a draft up for a vote in the House. The bill went down to defeat 402-2.

Update: On Betsy's Page she reports - that Kerry has actually proposed something that might interest young people. Kerry has proposed mandatory service as part of high school graduation requirements in his proposals called "100 Days to Change America."

Update: Beldar over on INDC Journal has a Post-Mortem on the Draft Scare story.

Update: Betsy cites a Time magazine article where they may have given this draft hoax a fair reading. Betsy writes: To its credit, Time Magazine debunks the rumors about the draft and shows how it all started from nothing and was pumped up by those who want to exploit people's fears of a draft for partisan purposes.