WASHINGTON — The website for the U.S. Selective Service System remained overwhelmed, under scrutiny, and unable to function, a day after an American drone strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani.
The site went down after a magnitude of misinformation from Twitter and Facebook caused thousands to check the status of a non-existent draft, or rather, to see if one would be initiated in the coming days.
"The Selective Service System is conducting business as usual," the government agency tweeted before 11 a.m. Friday. "In the event that a national emergency necessitates a draft, Congress and the President would need to pass official legislation to authorize a draft."
Even though there is no draft, and a reinstatement of the draft at this point would be extremely unlikely, 'WWIII' continued to trend on Twitter, with memes of millennials and Gen Z-ers reacting to potential compulsory military service.
Conscription was abolished in 1973, after massive protests swept the nation in response to the Vietnam War. In order to bring back the draft, the House and Senate would have to pass a bill, with the president ultimately signing the measure into law.
Even though the mobilization practice is dormant, the Selective Service System still maintains a database of all U.S. men able to serve between the ages of 18 and 25.
Women are not able to be drafted, and most young men are automatically added to the database upon registering for a driver's license.
The independent agency refers to itself on its online platforms as “a national defense partner and our nation's best insurance policy.”