I originally blogged this item a thousand years ago on September 26th. Given some of the latest buzz on the issue however --- for example, Josh Marshall asks why then we have a Selective Service at all, and contingency plans now to draft medical workers as discussed in today's NY Times if, as Bush says, there will be no draft --- it seems a reminder might be in order.
As originally blogged 9/26/04...
A Draft? Read Between the Lines.
It's the carefully chosen language, Stupid.
In the buildup to War on Iraq, when the idea was very unpopular amongst Americans just prior to the 2002 Elections, Bush and his surrogates went out of their way to tell the American people that he had no plans for war on his desk...
"I told the Prime Minister there are no war plans on my desk." - June 23, 2002 to Australian Prime Minister Howard
"I told President Chirac, I have no war plans on my desk." - May 26, 2002 to French President Chirac
As we later learned, of course, plans for War on Iraq were being readied at the time by the Pentagon even if they weren't yet "on Bush's desk".
This morning, on ABC's This Week Colin Powell made a careful mid-sentence correction when answering a question about whether there are plans for re-instating the Draft in the U.S.:
In other words, Bush "has no plans for a Draft on his desk."
We report, you decide.
(Fool me twice, shame on me?)