Building A Fighting Force Of Extraordinary Magnitude

With nearly two months left in the year, the annual death toll for U.S. troops is now 853, or three more than the previous worst of 850 in 2004. This news comes to us at a time when casualties are on the decline. I don't suppose that this will come as any sort of consolation for the families of the six new deaths announced Tuesday by the U.S. military. The sharp drop in roadside bombings, and growing security in Baghdad and other former militant strongholds don't mean a lot to the people standing around another flag-draped coffin.
Major Winfield Danielson, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad suggested, "It's due to the troop surge, which allowed us to go into areas that were previously safe havens for insurgents. Having more soldiers, and having them out in the communities, certainly contributes to our casualties." More troops equals more casualties - well duh.
And just when you thought that things were looking up, the Pentagon is quietly looking for ways to make it easier for people with minor criminal records to join the military. Apparently this shift comes as recruiting goals are rising. The troops for the surge had to come from somewhere, right? Army recruiters like to tell the story of fifteen-year-old who was trying to smoke out bees in a hive and accidentally set the hive on fire. The flames spread to a nearby house and caused damage. Police charged the youth with arson as a juvenile. At age twenty-two, he tried to join the Army, and officials had to go through the waiver process to get him in. There was no additional discussion of the waivers necessary for a limited or diminished mental capacity.
With the potential for a fighting force of highly aggressive felons, it makes one wonder about the potential for cleaning up the mean streets of our own country. If we can just convince the kids with guns to go to some foreign country and shoot at the people we ask them to, then we are really solving two problems. Still, it makes you wonder what the standards are for joining up with Blackwater.