Have you seen claims online that President Joe Biden is going to bring back the military draft, enlisting young men to fight wars in the Middle East? The claims have gone viral on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and even received a credulous write-up in Newsweek. But there’s no evidence the U.S. has any plan to reinstitute the draft.
“Biden means more wars and a possible draft for young U.S. men and women. Trump means peace deals,” former Trump administration official Richard Grenell tweeted on Sunday.
Grenell was Donald Trump’s ambassador to Germany and briefly served as acting Director of National Intelligence for just a few short months in early 2020. But Grenell’s claim doesn’t seem to be based on anything more than political posturing.
“There are rumors that President Biden is going to reinstate the draft. Just rumors… but wouldn’t that be fun to watch?,” former Navy SEAL Richard O’Neill tweeted on Monday.
Again, there’s absolutely no indication that Biden or anyone else in the U.S. military establishment has plans to bring back the draft. But the claims seem to be rooted in the idea that an expanded war in the Middle East is just over the horizon. The U.S. has engaged in strikes against targets in Yemen and Syria since the terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. And three U.S. service members died on Sunday in Jordan after a drone attack by Iran-backed fighters in east Syria, according to the Associated Press.
The last U.S. war that involved mandatory conscription was the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975. And while some pundits have promoted bringing back the draft as a way to instill patriotism and public service in young Americans, the proposal has generally been a political non-starter.
The U.S. has an all-volunteer military, though young men are required to register with the Selective Service System when they turn 18. It’s generally understood that mandatory military service is something the U.S. would only fall back on if an extremely dire situation occurred. Short of an apocalyptic nuclear war most Americans understand they probably wouldn’t get called up to fight.
The Biden campaign didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed on Tuesday. I’ll update this post if I hear back.
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