can you feel a cold draft?

Brrr.
No, I'm not feeling a chill, just a little draft blowing through my soul. No, not mine, I'm too old, even by the military's new standards.
But somebody's.
In the coming Theocracy, of course, my daughters will be safe (weaker sex, right?), but I've got a nephew, and cousins here and there.

What? What am I talking about? What do you mean there's no draft? I know that. There's no draft.
Yet.

But look at the latest recruiting numbers. They're down, way down. They've missed their recruiting goal by the largest amount since 1979, when the goal was much larger (to be honest, the goal was missed by almost as much in 1999, but the economy was good and everyone was partying).
I suspect that it's even worse than they are telling us. The military has never been much for telling anyone the whole truth. Generally, if they say it's bad, then it's worse.

Republicans will moan and groan, and express bafflement, or make excuses. Of anyone out there, though, Capitalists like those in the GOP ought to recognise a marketplace decision when they see it. BushCo is trying to sell America a war, and they're not meeting their sales quotas.
Like any fad, there was a big demand at first, but interest has since dropped off. Dubya, showing that he earned that "C" average, displayed his poor planning by ending up with a massive overstock.
People dont want what the Administration is selling. All those Patriotic bells and whistles are starting to look a bit overdone. Like a Pet Rock, people are looking at the Iraq war and saying to themselves, "I bought that? What was I thinking?"

How will the Military handle this? No doubt with more incentives, bigger signing bonuses, bigger salaries, bigger death benefits. And the army, as a package, is already a pretty good deal, if you can deal with the Discipline thing (oh, and Death, maybe)(actually, Death, definitely - somebody's Death).
Plus the usual round of Catch-22-like increases in service and deployment requirements before they let someone leave. But I dont know how much it'll help.

Lets make a list:

Pro:

• Patriotism and Duty
• Bring Democracy to Middle East
• Keep Terrorists in Middle East
• Keep WMDs out of Terrorist Hands
• College Tuition Money
• Being in the Army will make a man out of you

Con:

• Death, all around, in a far off land
• Democracy as dictated by U.S.
• U.S. Occupation inflames regional Muslims
• No WMDs found anywhere
• Cant argue with that one, if you live to spend it
• Psychological scarring from the Horror of War will never leave you

If you dont believe me about those last two points, ask a Veteran. While he'll probably tell you that the last point on the Pro list is true, if you press him, he'll tell you that the last item on the Con list is true, too.

So what's it gonna be Buddy? You buyin' or what?