Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Draft Watch: Army Having Trouble Recruiting Young Blacks and Women

African-Americans and women apparently don't want to be part of the march of freedom through the middle east.
WASHINGTON - Young blacks have grown markedly less willing to join the Army, citing fear of being sent to fight a war in Iraq they don't believe in, according to unpublicized studies for the military that suggest the Army is entering a prolonged recruiting slump.

Fear of combat also is a leading reason fewer young women are choosing the Army, the studies say. Although female soldiers are barred by law from assignments in direct combat, they nonetheless have found themselves under attack by insurgents in Iraq, and 32 have died.

"More African Americans identify having to fight for a cause they don't support as a barrier to military service," concluded an August 2004 study for the Army. It also said attitudes toward the Army among all groups of American youth have grown more negative in recent years.

"In the past, barriers were about inconvenience or preference for another life choice," the study said. "Now they have switched to something quite different: fear of death or injury."
This is why it's important to be honest with your initial justifications for war, and to ensure that the country supports your goal, especially in a country that depends upon an all volunteer force. While the brainwashed Fox-News viewing masses might be willing to die for Bush's lies, the other half (or more) of the country seems to have enough of a survival instinct to avoid being put into the line of fire by a bunch of ideologically blinded crusaders.

How much longer can our armed forces take the strain on recruitment before our military readiness is broken?