Target Centermass

Day: May 3, 2005

  • U.S. Military Recruiting Woes Continue

    On a day when new survey results show that 57 percent of adult Americans do not believe our efforts in Iraq are worth the cost, the Army has released detailed data showing that its recruiting continues to hemorrhage, falling short of its April goal by a heart-breaking 42 percent.

    The U.S. Army missed its April recruiting goal by a whopping 42 percent and the Army Reserve fell short by 37 percent, officials said on Tuesday, showing the depth of the military’s wartime recruiting woes.

    With the Iraq war straining the U.S. military, the active-duty Army has now missed its recruiting goals in three straight months, with April being by far the worst of the three, and officials are forecasting that it will fall short again in May.

    The all-volunteer Army is providing the majority of the ground forces for an Iraq war in which nearly 1,600 U.S. troops have died.

    The active-duty Army signed up 3,821 recruits last month, falling short of its goal of 6,600 for April, Army Recruiting Command spokesman Douglas Smith said. That left the Army 16 percent behind its year-to-date goal, officials said.

    The Army is striving to attract 80,000 recruits in fiscal 2005, which ends Sept. 30. The Army has not missed an annual goal for signing up new soldiers since 1999, and had not missed a monthly goal since May 2000.

    […]

    The Army Reserve, a force of part-time soldiers who train regularly and can be called to active duty in times of need, signed up 849 recruits in April, short of the monthly goal of 1,355, Smith said. That left the Army Reserve 21 percent behind its year-to-date goal.

    A senior Army official, who asked not to be named, said the Army Reserve will “probably not” achieve its annual goal of 22,175 recruits.

    The Army National Guard said it did not yet have its April numbers, but has missed its recruiting goal in every month of the current fiscal year through March and was 23 percent behind its year-to-date goal at that time. It missed its fiscal 2004 annual goal.

    Military recruiters have said potential recruits and their parents were expressing wariness about enlisting during the Iraq war. They said improving civilian job opportunities also were affecting recruiting.

    Has the war gone that poorly? Has the situation turned that dire? Or is the public being sold a negative bill of goods by the media? The networks and most papers wail with bad news while paying only passing attention to any progress, except when the situation absolutely demands it (the only recent moment that comes to mind is the success of the January elections). Barring such demand, the old saying in sensationalist journalism is that a building that does not burn is not news.

    As evidence that the situation on the ground is not as bad as the public is being led to believe, let’s check with the people on the ground.

    Col. Joe Curtin, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, said the Army was ahead of its targets for reenlisting current soldiers. “At the same time, we have a challenge of bringing new members into our ranks, but we’re optimistic we’ll meet that goal by the end of the summer,” Curtin said.

    People involved in a disaster don’t stick around in better-than-expected numbers.

    ‘Tis a shame that, on a day when history is being made by the swearing in of the first-ever Iraqi government resulting from popular elections and reflecting the diversity and will of the Iraqi people, America is being coaxed methodically towards a repeat of an earlier historical moment, an event when the American media betrayed the country’s military and truth with their poor, slanted selling of an alternate reality. Ah, Tet — a repeat is not in the best interest of our nation or, indeed, the future of western civilization, but that doesn’t stop some from pushing for it.

  • Letter Reveals Problems in Iraq Insurgency

    Perhaps my post last night portrayed a tad too negative view of the war against Islamist terror, although it looks like I may have been dead on about the trouble the murderers are having recruiting martyrs. A captured letter released today shows that the fodder shortage may just be the tip of the terrorists’ troubled iceberg.

    U.S. forces in Iraq have captured what they say is a letter from a key supporter to insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, indicating that there is a split in the insurgency, which the letter blames on poor leadership.

    The U.S. command in Iraq says troops found the letter during a raid in Baghdad last Friday. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says experts have confirmed its authenticity as message from senior aide Abu Asim Yemeni to the insurgent leader Abu Musab Zarqawi.

    “The letter is important because it highlights the fact that Zarqawi’s influence and effectiveness may be deteriorating. It describes low morale and weak and incompetent leadership, and goes on to allege to Zarqawi that he has abandoned his followers because he is now a fugitive himself,” he said.

    According to a translation of the letter provided by U.S. forces in Iraq, it describes some trouble between groups of insurgents that the apparent writer, Mr. Yemeni, says “cannot be forgiven.” He reports to his old friend Mr. Zarqawi that “morale has weakened” and “lines have become separated due to some leaders’ actions.” The letter says, “We have leaders that are not capable of being good leaders” It also expresses suspicion about some envoys who claim to speak for Mr. Zarqawi, and warns him not to believe everything his closest aides tell him.

    The full text of the letter can be found here.

    Let’s throw this story around the horn, blogosphere-style

  • War on Terror Update for Y’all

    First, our allies.

    Italy has chosen to dispute the U.S. report on the checkpoint incident that cost the life of Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari. The Italians have apparently been heavily influenced by popular support for the “hostage” rescued, communist and anti-American journalist Giuliana Sgrena, she of the ever–changing story.

    Still, in retrospect, Italy looks brave compared to the Philippines and Spain.

    Despite these poor examples of supposed allies, let’s take a look at what’s going on in those nations cold-chillin’ on the sidelines. Chad at In the Bullpen brings truly ugly news: countries are paying tribute to al-Quida for temporary local peace.

    I’m not sure which is more disturbing; information that Qatar is paying off Al Qaida to prevent attacks or that a Qatari official says this is happening in other countries as well.

    No good news on any of these fronts today. No, not really.

    Meanwhile, in Iraq, the terrorists continue trying for another Tet, the model for a military failure and media succuss that I said repeatedly was their new goal. Now, they are threatening to get the media play that would enable them to achieve it. Check out these headlines currently on Google News:

    Iraq Violence Unabated as 23 More Die
    Iraqi Leaders Seek Deal Amid Bloodshed
    New Iraq leaders face violent surge
    2nd Day of Deadly New Iraq Mayhem
    Death toll rises as Iraq insurgents strike at will

    This is certainly bad. However, this ain’t 1968 and, hopefully, the true state of affairs can get past leftist and leftist-leaning media manipulation.

    Along with this, while the U.S. may have recruiting issues of its own, apparently so do the terrorists in Iraq. Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report blogs on the heinous motivation that may be driving some of these suicide bombers — terrorist blackmail based on kidnapping of wives and children.

    So, let me get this straight. Zarqawi is now capturing women and children, and then telling the fathers that if they don’t blow themselves and a few infidels up then he’s going to chop their heads off?

    Well, that certainly makes the American recruiting issue seem like a small matter. The Islamist bastards seem to be running short of volunteering explosive cannon fodder, so they’ll use foul terror to generate their own martyrs. Somehow, I doubt this is within the teachings of the so-called religion of peace.

    See if that little sick tidbit gets any ink anytime soon. If any news like this takes hold among the Arab people, all the previous bad news means nothing. The terrorists’ desperation for Tet may just prevent their own Tet as the ways of the evil operations come to light.