US runs low on soldiers
'If Bush gets in I think a draft is a distinct possibility,' says Eric Ellis, a Vietnam veteran. He isn't alone.
Officially, the draft is a non-starter. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ruled it out. The Selective Service Agency, the federal body that would run a draft, doesn't 'foresee anything on the horizon'. Neither Bush nor his presidential rival, Senator John Kerry, have mentioned it.
But this could change quickly. Should Washington give the go-ahead, America's 1980 draft boards, staffed by 11,000 volunteers, are 'ready to do business'.
Currently, there are two private members' bills in Congress, one in the House and one in the Senate, to re-enact the draft.
"Once the presidential election is done I think there will be strong pressure on Congress to look at the draft," says Professor Don Zillman, a expert on the subject at the University of Maine in Portland.
"I think at this stage it would be unpopular. But if we have another terrorist attack closer to home, all bets are off."
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