Category Archives: Military

A bad combination

Fierce Planet Posted on by

Oliver Willis had the best post of the day yesterday, when he showed us the very bad combination of these two stories: Bush Rejects Bad News There is rising concern amongst senior officials that President Bush does not grasp the increasingly grim reality of the security situation in Iraq because he refuses to listen to that type of information. Our sources say that attempts to brief Bush on various grim realities have been personally rebuffed by the President, who actually says that he does not want to hear

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Hold the phone cards!

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Walter Reed is reporting that they have received so many gifts for wounded veterans, including stacks of phone cards, that they are asking everyone to hold off sending anything more for at least a couple of months. They’ve simply run out of space to store things. They suggest instead sending money or gifts to other organizations which help wounded soldiers and their families. But they don’t name any, and I don’t know which organizations might need help. Any ideas?

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Recruitment problems

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Not surprisingly, Army recruitment isn’t going so well these days, and generals warn that this may require us to consider a draft. Army Reserve recruiting is in a “precipitous decline” that could provoke new debate over a draft if not slowed, the Reserve’s top general said Monday. Some reservists are filing suit over attempts to extend their service without their permission, as the Army invokes “stop loss” orders that prevent soldiers from leaving even once their service is up. The dirty little secret of military recruiters is that, regardless of the length of the initial active duty contract, everyone who … Continue reading →

National Guard needs more recruits

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Since joining the National Guard is now equivalent to enlisting for active duty in a war zone, with no certainty you’ll be allowed to return home once your shift is up, it’s not surprising to find that the Army National Guard is having trouble meeting recruitment goals. Such is the plight of the Indiana National Guard, struggling to boost its numbers at a time when potential recruits are retreating because of the war in Iraq. Since 2001, the Guard

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