US:The Bush administration is planning a test run of America's emergency military call-up, stoking speculation about a return to a draft at a time when the White House is considering sending more troops to Iraq.
The secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, provided further evidence that the administration is leaning towards sending more troops to Iraq, acknowledging the high financial and human toll of the war so far, and indicating there would be further costs to bear.
"A lot has been sacrificed for Iraq, a lot has been invested in Iraq," she told the Associated Press on Thursday. "But the president wouldn't ask for the continued sacrifice, the continued investment if he did not believe, and in fact I believe as well, that we can in fact succeed and in fact that it's imperative we succeed."
As Ms Rice spoke, the Selective Service System, the government agency charged with providing troops to the military in an emergency, said it was preparing its first readiness exercise since 1998.
Officials were adamant there were no plans to bring back conscription. Planning for the call-up exercise is to begin in mid-2007, and the exercise is tentatively scheduled to take place in 2009.
But fears about a draft have flared periodically during the Iraq war. On Thursday they were reignited when Jim Nicholson, the secretary for veteran affairs, said he believed "society would benefit" if the US were to bring back the draft.
In an indication of the sensitivities surrounding the draft, the White House moved to counter the remarks. He withdrew his statement hours later.
But it was impossible to entirely avoid concerns about a call-up in a week in which president George Bush said he had asked the Pentagon to look into a permanent expansion in the size of the army and the marine corps. Mr Bush is expected to make an announcement in the new year about whether he will order additional troops to Iraq in a last attempt to try to bring stability to Baghdad and western Anbar province.
Reports this week suggested Mr Bush is weighing up the possibility of sending in an additional 20,000-30,000 troops in the short term.
The Pentagon has warned that such a course could bring to breaking point a military already under strain by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The deepening unpopularity of the war has made it difficult for the Pentagon to meet recruitment targets. Earlier this year the Pentagon announced it was lowering the standards for new recruits, and would take older men as well as those who performed poorly in intelligence tests.
The US suspended the draft in 1973 during the last months of the Vietnam war. But it has required all males to register for the draft since 1980, keeping its vast system of draft boards on standby.