[Marxism] Symptoms of war-weary USA

[Greg McDonald]

Envoys Resist Forced Iraq Duty
Top State Dept. Officials Face Angry Questions

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007; Page A01

Uneasy U.S. diplomats yesterday challenged senior State Department  
officials in unusually blunt terms over a decision to order some of  
them to serve at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad or risk losing their jobs.

At a town hall meeting in the department's main auditorium attended  
by hundreds of Foreign Service officers, some of them criticized  
fundamental aspects of State's personnel policies in Iraq. They took  
issue with the size of the embassy -- the biggest in U.S. history --  
and the inadequate training they received before being sent to serve  
in a war zone. One woman said she returned from a tour in Basra with  
post-traumatic stress disorder only to find that the State Department  
would not authorize medical treatment.

Full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/ 
AR2007103101626.html?hpid=topnews



WASHINGTON — The Army began its recruiting year Oct. 1 with fewer  
signed up for basic training than in any year since it became an all- 
volunteer service in 1973, a top general said Wednesday.

Gen. William S. Wallace, whose duties as commander of Army Training  
and Doctrine Command include management of recruiting, told reporters  
at the Pentagon that the historic dip will make it harder to achieve  
the full-year recruiting goal _ after just barely reaching it in the  
year ended Sept. 30.

Achieving the Army's recruiting goals _ a challenge in the best of  
times _ is not only more difficult now but also of more consequence.  
That is because the Army has decided that it must grow its active- 
duty force by several thousand soldiers a year in order to relieve  
strain on war-weary troops.

full: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071031/army-recruiting/