Rumsfeld's Transformed Military

You doubtless recall, Oh Best Beloved, that Don Rumsfeld came to the post of Secretary of Defense with a mission. Not the mission to invade Iraq. That was a secret. The other mission.

That was a mission to transform the American military into the lightest, most potent, most agile fighting force in the world. Well it appears that the on-and-ongoing war in Iraq has delayed that transformation, but has created another, and quite different, transformation.

The Iraq war has created tremendous pressures on the military, particularly the Army, national Guard and Marines. This has translated to downward pressure on the quality of recruits now being accepted according to Nick Turse writing in TomDispatch.

Take, for instance, the percentage of recruits scoring below 50% on the ASVAB which is the aptitude test given to potential recruits. The figure is now nearly 40 % of all recruits with such low scores.

To appreciate how serious this is, we invite you to look at some sample questions from the test. In order to slip below 50% you're going to have to miss stumpers like " How many 36 passenger buses does it take to carry 144 people ?". If you answered "10", don't worry, you can still serve.

You can also serve if you are up to 42 years old, a convicted felon, a gangbanger, a Nazi or skin head. If you are a foreign national you'll get the right to apply for citizenship with all fees waived after one (1) day of active service.

Check out the whole piece at TomDispatch, remember our military fondly and

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