Army Meets Its Retention Goal

WAIT!

You didn't edit the comment to take out, "onset of what has become an increasingly unpopular war" . . .

Honesty? Integrity?

Be careful that might become contagious.



Did you see nightline's description of the newer kinder Basic Training?

 

Did Germany attack us?

Joseph Botwinick

 

Did Germany attack us? Yep. Not only that, they declared war on us, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Iraq didn't attack us. Al Qaeda attacked us. But Rumsfeld said that all the good targets were in Iraq. Apparently, that was good enough for Bush.

Now all the "good targets" in Iraq are our people.

 

It was apparently good enough for Democrats such as President Clinton, Madeline Albright, Nancy Pelosi, Carl Levin, Al Gore, John Kerry and others. They all warned that Saddam was a threat that had to be dealt with.

 

Germany formally declared war on us in 1941 after its ally Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. You should know this by now.

 

Is it untrue?

 

Since when is stating the truth "media spin"?

 

Well, it could be if it were irrelevent to the jist of the story like:

In this case, though, the relative popularity of an ongoing war has a direct relationship with re-enlistment rates, so, if it's true, I don't see it as spin.

I just can't resist a good quibble...

 

Yes, Iraq did attack us

. . . they continued to fire upon US aircraft in violation of the treaty of surrender

. . . they sent assassins to kill President Bush when he visited Kuwait . . .

. . . they supported terrorists and trained terrorists . . . .

. . . and the UN and others continued to give them more appeasement until . . .

. . . we went in without them.

 

Where did Germany attack us?

Joseph Botwinick

 

Out on the Atlantic. Remember the U boats that were sinking our ships? Also, didn't they land some guys on the east coast?

 

Have you heard of a ship called the good Reuben James?

One hundred men went down to their dark watery grave;
When that good ship went down, only forty-four were saved.
'Twas the last day of October that they saved forty-four
From the cold icy waters by the cold Iceland shore.

It was there in the dark of that uncertain night
That we watched for the U-boat and waited for a fight.
Then a whine and a rock and a great explosion roared,
And they laid the Reuben James on the cold ocean floor.

The destroyer USS Reuben James, sunk by a Nazi sub Oct 31 1945.

 

Galatian

I never have understood those that never really considered giving their lives in the defense of their country . . .

31 October 1941 might be a better date for commemorating the valiant 100 sailors and officers that died protecting our freedom . . .

Named after Rueben James . . . remember him? He died in 1838 from his battle wounds . . .

 

Notwithstanding

The Army has met its recruiting goals!

Our children can sleep at night . . .

 

Pentagon officials announced Monday that the Army has managed to achieve its latest recruiting goals, while admitting that they have lowered some standards that had been set to ensure the quality of the force...

The military's revelation last week that former Pfc. Steven Green, who allegedly organized the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and the killing of her family, suffered from "anti-social personality disorder" sheds new light on the importance of how the Army decides whom to sign up for service, say military analysts.
"The issue is not whether they've met their quota," said Winslow Wheeler, an expert on the U.S. military at the Center for Defense Information in Washington. "The issue is quality ... and what concessions they are willing to make to meet this quota." [/quote]
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/11/MNG03JT3ER1.DTL

Turns out, Green would not have been qualified under the old standard. And...

To allow more recruits to join, the Army last fall amended its rule that it can sign up no more than 2 percent of recruits who score between 15 and 30 out of 99 on the Army's aptitude test. Now, up to 4 percent of Army recruits can score under 30 on the aptitude test, which measures such things as the applicants' knowledge of mathematics and command of the English language, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman.
(same source)

I've seen some schools do this. If the kids can't meet the standard, just lower the standard, and call them successes anyway.

Anyone can meet a goal, if you let them redefine the rules.

 

Don't misunderstand my comments, I spent 12 years in the Army and was willing to pay the ultimate price for my country. I was in during the first Gulf war and was ready to go because of Iraq invading Kwait. He also threatened the oil supplies.

Why did we go to Vietnam? To stand in the middle of a countries civil war? There was no winning in that equation.

Now why are we in Iraq? Bin Laden attacks the US so we invade Iraq and arrest Saddam Hussein??? Did anyone catch that but me? No matter how much the citizens of Iraq hate the talaban they will always hate us more. They are family and we are, well, not. We are also not making many friends by kicking in peoples doors in the middle of the night.

Now that we are there and 1 American has died, like Vietnam, I say we need to stay and finish what we started. I just don't feel we should have went there in the first place and like to be sure we don't confuse what is going on over there as "giving your life for this country" or even defending freedom. That is not why we are there nor why we went. Iraq did not attack us and if you use the fact that Talaban trains in that country, well, I think we should police our own backyard first. They probably train here too. Remember, we're the ones who taught them to fly the planes...