Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute -- an assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan -- told National Public Radio he is concerned about the effect on U.S. forces of the Iraq war and extended deployments.

Lute, who is informally known as the "war czar," said the U.S. military depends on volunteers' "willingness to serveā€ and he said he was concerned that U.S. troops and their families ā€œare under stress as a result of repeated deployments.ā€

Lute said a return to the draft was a ā€œnational policy decision point that we have not yet reachedā€ but he said it has always been an option.

ā€œI think it makes sense to certainly consider it, and I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table,ā€ he said, ā€œbut ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another.ā€