[richlevy]

From here.

Army recruits shortfall blamed on Iraq war critics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several Senate Republicans denounced other lawmakers and the news media on Thursday for unfavorable depictions of the Iraq war and the Pentagon urged members of Congress to talk up military service to help ease a recruiting shortfall.

Families are discouraging young men and women from enlisting "because of all the negative media that's out there," Sen. James Inhofe (news, bio, voting record), an Oklahoma Republican, said at a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Inhofe also said that other senators' criticism of the war contributed to the propaganda of U.S. enemies. He did not name the senators.

So, telling the truth is now un-American? How exactly are we supposed to interpret 1700 dead, ten times more wounded, 500 attacks a week, and an insurgency which has grown from 5,000 to between 16,000 and 20,000?

"With the deluge of negative news that we get daily, it's just amazing to me that anybody would want to sign up," said Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), a Kansas Republican.

Facing flagging support for the Iraq war that has killed about 1,750 U.S. forces, President Bush in a speech on Tuesday acknowledged the nation's doubts about the strategy but insisted the operation was worthwhile and portrayed Iraq as a key battlefield against terrorists.

Bush himself made a pitch for military service. "We live in freedom because every generation has produced patriots willing to serve a cause greater than themselves. Those who serve today are taking their rightful place among the greatest generations that have worn our nation's uniform," he said.

Iraq is a 'key battlefield against terrorists' because we made it so. I have no problem with my son being sworn in to 'protect and defend the Constitution'. I just don't want it to be the Iraqi constitution. Maybe we should print up bumper stickers 'Make America Safer - Lie to Your Children'.

Of course I would have no problem with my son emulating the President's example of military service. However, finding a National Guard unit which has a %100 chance of being kept stateside will be difficult in this war. Maybe if I sign him up with an artic warfare unit.

The one advantage of a combination of a democracy and a volunteer draft is that one way or another you get to pick your commander-in-chief and secretary of defense. If I were inclined to sell the military to some teenager, there is no way I could do so with a Bush-Rumsfeld team at the helm.

Hearing these senators say that low enlistment is the media's fault is the dumbest piece of spin I've heard in weeks. Even Fox wouldn't be able to sell it. Maybe these idiots would like us to stop using negative terms. Instead of 'casualties' we can say 'horizontally transitioned servicemembers'. Instead of 'improvised explosive devices' we can say 'loud interruptions'.

If anyone thinks that I or my son have to prove our patriotism by his joining this overseas roadshow, or even engaging in self-deluded fantasies that we have Iraq under control, they can go fuck themselves.