A bold policy decision can bear so much effect on citizens that post Baghdad International Airport strikes, carried out by the United States, that eliminated Qasem Sulaimani, google searches for 'draft age' in the United States, suddenly spiked.
The website of Selective Service System, that handles draft registration, was bombarded with so much traffic, that the site crashed, on Friday.
US-Iran tensions leave Americans worried about conscription
According to Mashable, a huge spike in google search for 'draft age', was witnessed late on Thursday, that comes after the United States carried out airstrikes in Baghdad.
Also, the website Selective Service System, which handles draft registration, went down, due to traffic overload. "Due to spread of misinformation, our website is experiencing high traffic volumes", the Selective Service said. "If you are trying to register or verify the registration, check back later today as we are working to resolve this problem", it further added.
Apparently, people were increasingly searching for ways to dodge the draft, as well.
USA's draft rules
According to draft rules, all American males, between the ages of 18-26 have to register with the Selective Service. Registration doesn't mean that the registrant will be automatically inducted into the military or that he's joining the army.
Rather, at a time of crisis, men would be called in a sequence determined by random lottery number and year of birth. Then, they would be examined for mental, physical, and moral fitness by the military before being deferred or exempted from military service or inducted into the Armed Forces.
The last time the US actually had a draft was in 1973. It was ended following opposition to the Vietnam War, that ended in 1975. There are several countries that have compulsory drafting. Such countries include Brazil, Qatar, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Israel etc. Countries such as North Korea and Israel has compulsory drafting of women, as well.
