WASHINGTON -- Most U.S. high-school students believe the government will restart the military draft during their lifetimes, and shrinking numbers are optimistic about the country's future, a new poll finds.
Among teenagers, 55 percent say young Americans will be required to serve in the military, up from 45 percent last year, according to "The State of Our Nation's Youth," an annual survey by the Horatio Alger Association.
During the year between polls -- May 2003 to May 2004 -- U.S. casualties mounted during attacks in Iraq even after President Bush declared on May 1, 2003, that major combat had ended.
Former President Nixon halted the draft in 1973. Pentagon leaders and numerous generals and admirals have said it should not be resumed because the volunteer military is more efficient. Critics including Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry have accused the Pentagon of engaging in a "backdoor draft" to compensate for manpower shortages in Iraq with wholesale mobilizations National Guard and Reserve units and other retention tactics.
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http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-student-views,0,7887806.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines
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