"We are at War!!"

Well, folks, the only Americans at war are in the armed services and they and their families are sick of it.  For most everyone else, it business (and fun) as usual.

Three items within the last few days:

Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican, Nebraska and John McCain, Republican, Arizona have both (again) harshly criticized the administration for its blunders in Iraq.  Both potential 2008 Republican nominees are now in open revolt with the commander-in-chief (lower case intentional) for misleading the public into thinking that the War in Iraq would be in McCain's words "a day at the beach."

The last story is the most pitiful:

WASHINGTON (AP) +óGé¼GÇ¥ The Marine Corps will soon begin ordering thousands of its troops back to active duty because of a shortage of volunteers for Iraq and Afghanistan +óGé¼GÇ¥ the first involuntary recall since the early days of the war.

The All-Volunteer military, one of our sources of pride for decades, no longer consists of all volunteers.  Vietnam killed the Draft and it seems that Iraq has killed the All-Volunteer military.

All of this is to make a further point on recruitment and retention.  Paraphrasing one recently discharged young soldier, "I will personally take my son(s) to Canada or Sweden before I will let them serve in the armed forces of the United States of America."

The late U. S. Army Colonel David Hackworth predicted over 4 years ago that by mid-2006 there would be a "trainwreck" in recruitment.  I am sorry the he was right and I am sorry that he is gone.

The message to me is that we are approaching a time when the United States will not be able to recruit any warriors at any price for any cause.

Comments