The National Guard and Reserve suffered more combat deaths in Iraq during the first 10 days of August – at least 32, according to a Pentagon count – than in any full month of the entire war.
AP
AP
Bush has created a fiasco. Cindy Sheehan has captured the American imagination and, like a pied piper, she is gathering a different army of recruits. Meanwhile, the Guard and Reserves are having trouble:
The recent surge in Guard and Reserve combat deaths comes as the Army National Guard and Army Reserve are stuck in a prolonged recruiting slump that some attribute in large measure to young people’s fear of getting sent to Iraq. More than 1,840 U.S. service members – active and reserve – have died since the war began.
On Wednesday the Pentagon announced that as of July 31 the Army National Guard was running 23 percent behind in recruiting for the year and the Army Reserve was 20 percent behind. The Marine Reserve was right at its goal.
Nice work, Bush. Seems like a lot of people have no desire to fight a war in Asia based on a pack of lies. Who woulda thunk it? I mean, wouldn’t you rather, I don’t know, go to Harvard Business School, or something?