I Am Sure That You Have Not Heard Anything About This.....

US military recruiting has met its goals as of late despite the hammering on this issue a while back. The press was screaming, that due to the Iraq war, the military was having a difficult time recruiting since parents and the kids themselves were afraid of dying. Additionally, they were floating the trial balloon of reinstituting a draft....

But the biggest asset in the recruiting effort has been the world-of-mouth from the troops themselves. They believe in what they are doing, and accomplishing. They believe they are well equipped, trained and led to do it. This angle has not gotten much press coverage, probably because so few members of the press know troops personally. The army recruits largely from the middle classes and non-urban areas. Just the kinds of places and people where you won't find journalists and pundits. When the media does address the recruiting situation, it is dismissed as not relevant. The troops are described as not "getting the big picture," or worse.

The knee-jerk retro-1960's liberal reaction to everything that we get in the press insures that readers will not be kept abreast of the issues of the day, but will be kept abreast of all the garbage that the press wants to throw at us. How about reporting the news and leave the decisions to us?