Volunteers

To date, the US Army has stop-lossed about 50,000 soldiers. Think about that for a moment: 50,000. 50,000 men and women forced to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan after their terms of enlistment have ended.

But even stop-loss measures aren’t enough to end current recruitment woes:

“The higher rates of promotion are part of efforts to fill new slots created by an Army reorganization and to compensate for officers who are resigning from the service, many after multiple rotations to Iraq.

[. . .]

“… rising attrition rates for officers could be an ominous sign of an eventual exodus from the service's leadership ranks.

“They say that with many officers in line for a third yearlong combat tour in Iraq, it is inevitable that a growing number would choose to leave the military to relieve strain on their family lives.

“The exodus will be among officers whose families say, ‘Look, there are 300 million people in this country; let somebody else take their turn.’ ”

And who better to “take their turn” but those who “support President Bush’s recently unveiled strategy for victory in Iraq”? After tomorrow’s big nationwide rally, I’ll bet that literally thousands of College Republicans will sign up to help “finish the job.” Hooray! Hang in there, GI Joe and Jane! Help is on the way!