Recruiting Issues Exposed

As all of my readers know well, I predicted early in September/October of 2004 that Bush/Rumsfeld/Cheney were going to ruin the all volunteer Army with the war in Iraq. First it was a matter of what the heck are we doing there in the first place. Then it went to the utter incompetence of those who were leading the military into battle with no idea of the enemy, no armor and no planned exit.

The first half of the year (2005) proved me out. The recruiting was a disaster. June's target was met but only because it was dramatically decreased. Here is what some are saying:

1. Democratic Veteran points out that the National Guard continues to miss its recruiting targets.
2. Shayera shows that the lack of recruits is not because kids are just lazy but because they are not stupid. They are not going to voluntarily join a war where they are put into an unwinnable position.
3. Fatmixx dives into the June numbers. While the Army claims to have hit their goals, what is interesting is that the goals were lower than any month this year. In fact, one would expect a much higher number in June (isn't that when kids graduate High School). The Army has to hit almost 11,000 per month for the next three months to hit plan. Not going to happen.
4. Murdoc online shows the other side. Whatever the Pentagon says goes and he touts that "recruiting is looking better" despite the fact that they way they hit the goal was to decrease the goal dramatically. "Don't confuse us with facts".

Bottom line is that these goals are not being met. The reason they are not being met is not because our kids have somehow become lazy and not because of a lack of patriotism. It is because Americans have figured out this war. It was conducted under false pretenses, executed poorly and has no end in site. Individuals may or may not be smart but collectively, Americans are very smart. Collectively, Americans are voting "No" to this war.