[politics] Where are we going...

...and what are we doing in this handbasket? The Army and Marine Corps are getting concerned that they aren't meeting their recruiting goals. The Army? The Marine Corps? Remember them? The ones that the generals said needed more 'boots on the ground'? The ones that the neo-con cabal are grinding down? 40% off is a lot, people. The Marines have missed their recruiting goals for 4 straight months. Four months. The Army has missed them for 3. Despite all the rosy talk about how they always get more recruits in the summer months so they aren't too worried, they're saying something different off the record. Before this clusterfuck in Iraq started, I had an arguement (well-mannered, polite, considered, but an arguement nonetheless) with a Vietnam-era vet who was all gung-ho for us to kick Saddam's ass. I responded that while I thought Saddam was a destabilizing figure in the region, our erstwhile President had decided to invade Iraq before 9/11, and I for one didn't want my son drafted so he'd have to serve at some Syrian/Iraqi border version of Checkpoint Charlie. He made some non-commital noises about this being necessary, and we wouldn't be there that long, it wouldn't come to that, yadda yadda. I still call bullshit.