Pentagon Deploys More War Planning Specialists to the Gulf - 2003-01-08

The U.S. Department of Defense announces that it is sending more war planning specialists to a new command center in the Gulf region. The Department states that most members of the team coordinating a potential war with Iraq will move this week to Camp As-Saliyah in Qatar. The Pentagon emphasizes that the deployment of this group does not necessarily mean that war with Iraq will occur soon. In another development on Tuesday morning, Britain and France also announced steps to prepare for war. British Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon called up a number of reserve army personnel, and French President Jacques Chirac stated that French soldiers should prepare for possible deployment. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Pentagon does not intend to reinstate mandatory military service. Rumsfeld stated that there is no need to compel young men and women to serve in the military. He noted that the U.S. meets its defense needs through an all-volunteer army and by calling up members of the National Guard and reserves. Rumsfeld mentioned that mandatory military service has clear drawbacks, including the high costs of training individuals who do not intend to remain in the military. Congressman Charles Rangel, a Democrat, has submitted a bill to Congress to reinstate mandatory military service, claiming that there is a lack of affluent youth in the ranks of the U.S. military. The U.S. ended the draft in 1973 in response to widespread public opposition to the Vietnam War and shifted to an all-volunteer army. President Jimmy Carter reinstated the call for young people to serve in the military in 1980 in response to the Soviet and Iranian threats of that time.