What the Media Doesn't Want You to Know..

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51881

During the darkest days of the Iraq conflict (mid 2004-late 2006), the Army really did suffer some recruiting shortfalls (For the record, the Marines, Navy, and Air Force remained at or above goal consistently during this time).

You already knew that, though, because major mainstream news outlets like CNN and the New York Times reported on it.

Extensively.

So now that the Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve have been consistently at or above targets for their Fiscal Year 2008 benchmarks (and, so far, Fiscal Year 2009), you would expect those very same news outlets to basically report that story in reverse, right?

Yeah, right.

The dirty secrets revealed in the link above include such shockers as the fact that all services have lately been at or above goals, that the average new military recruit is better educated than the average person in his age group, is more intelligent (as measured by ASVAB score), and comes from a wealthier neighborhood.

I must admit that the media did a great job with its Veterans' Day coverage, and I believe they really mean the things that they say about the men and women who wore (or wear) the cloth.

But to talk about the modern military recruit as anything other than 'victim' is to run against the grain of a common limousine liberal sort of shibboleth that seems impervious to awkward things like, well, actual facts.

Far better than a bumper sticker or yellow ribbon, a good way to support our troops might be to ask a veteran for his/her feelings about recently-completed overseas service, and be willing to let the answer you get guide your feelings about or foreign policy, rather than try to cram it in to the narrative of a pre-fabricated opinion.