Army Still Having Trouble Getting Recruits

Bush can lie to us if he wants to, and tell us how well the war is going. But it isn't going well and everybody knows it. There may be a few less American deaths in the last month, but there are still far too many deaths and far too little being accomplished -- and the American people know it.

That's why the Army is having such a hard time filling its quota of new recruits these days. The Army has told us they have been filling their quota recently, but they don't tell us how they've been doing it.

Turns out they have been accepting people with criminal records. They are now allowing people to join that a couple of years ago they wouldn't have allowed anywhere near an Army base. The harder the quota gets to fill, the more serious the crimes they are willing to forgive.

They are even accepting gang-bangers. They are giving them weapons and combat training, and no one seems to think about the fact that they'll be back on our streets again someday. Only they'll come back trained to kill and traumatized by war. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

But evidently, even accepting criminals isn't getting the quotas filled. Now the Army is going to start a program that will pay new recruits a bonus of $40,000. They were already offering $20,000, but now they have decided to double it. All you have to do is sign up for a five-year enlistment (and live through the war). The bonus will be paid at the end of the five years.

If this war was truly about defending America, I doubt they would be having this much trouble finding recruits. But Americans know the truth. Many citizens bought into the "defending America" lie at first, but now they know the war is only being fought for oil and Bush's pride. Neither is worth the life of an American soldier.

It does make me wonder what'll be next when the $40,000 bonus doesn't work. Just how much is Bush willing to pay for soldiers to fight his dirty little war?