President Obama and the Pentagon announced Thursday they support requiring women to register for the military draft. Congress debated putting such a requirement in the National Defense Authorization Act, which is up for a House vote Friday, but opted instead to study whether the draft is necessary at all.

The debate over whether women should be treated equally in the eyes of the draft is interesting, but it misses the more important question about why draft registration still exists at all. The only reason we require all adult men to register for Selective Service is in case World War III breaks out and Americans don’t want to volunteer.