How depressing

That young people are still enlisting in the imperial forces by the thousands: Military meets, exceeds recruiting goals. How desperate, uninformed or just plain stupid must kids be to volunteer for W's quagmires?

Of course, I should never jump to conclusions. Although the AP article doesn't mention it (of course), the main reason the army met its goal last month is that the goal was lowered. Last year, there were lots of articles about recruiting shortfalls. Last year:

The Army has not published official figures yet, but it apparently finished the 12-month counting period that ends Friday with about 73,000 recruits. Its goal was 80,000. The Army has not published official figures yet, but it apparently finished the 12-month counting period that ends Friday with about 73,000 recruits. Its goal was 80,000.

73,000 out of 80,000 for a year works out to 6083 out of 6666 per month. This year:

The Army, which is bearing the brunt of the work in Iraq, did the best. It signed up 6,485 new recruits in November compared with its target of 6,150--meaning 105 percent of its goal.

So, through the miracle of bar-lowering, the Army turned a 9% deficit into a 5% surplus with an actual increase of only 6%--still failing to meet last year's goals. Chocolate rations are up.

So maybe it isn't so bad. Still--6385 people volunteering to go fight in a criminal war with no purpose and no end in sight. Something is very wrong with this country.