Some on the Left call it a "backdoor draft" -- but it isn't. Then again, their mischaracterization of the truth is one more demonstration that the Left cannot be trusted with the security of our nation.

Spc. Chris Carlson had been out of the U.S. Army for two years and was working at Costco in California when he received notice that he was being called back into service.

The 24-year-old is one of thousands of soldiers and Marines who have been deployed to Iraq under a policy that allows military leaders to recall troops who have left the service but still have time left on their contract.

"I thought it was crazy," said Carlson, who has found himself protecting convoys on Iraq's dangerous roads as part of a New Jersey National Guard unit. "Never in a million years did I think they would call me back."

Although troops are allowed to leave active duty after a few years of service, they generally still have time left on their contract with the military that is known as "inactive ready reserve" status, or IRR. During that time, they have to let their service know their current address, but they don't train, draw a paycheck or associate in any other way with the military.

But with active duty units already completing multiple tours in Iraq, the
Pentagon has employed the rarely used tactic of calling people back from IRR status, a policy sometimes referred to as a "backdoor draft."

But it isn't any sort of draft -- as noted above, it is holding individuals who volunteered for service to the terms of their contract. It is something which they are told about up front, and which they know to expect.

Take this soldier, for example.

Anthony Breaux, 24, from La Place, La., said he had a feeling that eventually he would be recalled to service after hearing of so many other soldiers who were pulled from IRR status. Breaux, who left active duty in September 2002, said he knew it was part of the bargain when he joined the army.

"Well, I signed up. I signed the papers. So you know what? I got to do what I got to do," Breaux said, before getting ready for a reconnaissance patrol around Camp Anaconda.

Got that -- they knew what they were signing up for when they signed their contracts. They are not draftees being plucked from the streets -- they are members of our nations military reserves being called to fulfill the duty they volunteered for.

And anyone who claims differently is simply a liar, and more concerned with trashing the Bush Administration than protecting the United States from its enemies.