Military Not Able to Meet Recruiting Quota

(link) The Military Recruiter's Lament By Scott Ritter01/18/06 "AlterNet" -- -- "It should come as no surprise to any observer of modern America that U.S. military recruiters are having a difficult time meeting their quotas. Last year, the U.S. Army fell 6,600 recruits short of its goal to enlist 80,000 new soldiers. An increase in recruitment incentives, including signing bonuses and increases in college scholarships, combined with the raising of the minimum enlistment age (to 39) and allowing high school dropouts to be recruited, have not helped reverse the tide. Even the vaunted U.S. Marines, the pinnacle of the all-volunteer U.S. military, which has prided itself on its ability to attract recruits with slogans like "If everyone could be a Marine, there wouldn't be Marines" versus money and other recruiting gimmickry, have failed to make their enlistment quota." [...]
"Americans aren't afraid to put their lives on the line for a worthy cause. It is not military service that is being rejected, but rather military service in support of a cause not deemed worthy of the sacrifice expected. The military today has degenerated into an entity that is viewed by many in the American public as no longer serving the larger interests of the American people, but rather the play toy of a political elite who use the U.S. military as a tool to impose their ideology on others around the world, as opposed to "upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States," the mission assumed when one is sworn into military service." [...]
Comment: Amen. Another older view from a two time Medal of Honor winner and Marine Corps General can be found here (link). Ah yes, the oath I once took included "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same." The question I never asked but maybe should have is what do you do in defense of domestic enemies... Maybe the fine gentlemen General Hayden, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, will fill us in on the Constitution and the Oath he took as an officer at least 10 times to rise to the rank of full General (four stars baby - Oh yeah!).