Number of black troops takes dive

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/14054350.htm

<snip>Defense Department statistics show that the number of black active-duty enlisted personnel has declined 14 percent since 2000.

The decrease is particularly acute among the troops most active in the Middle East: The number of black enlisted soldiers has dropped by 19 percent and the number of black enlisted Marines has fallen by 26 percent in the same period. snip

Kashonda Leycock is the daughter of a soldier, and the 17-year-old has been a member of the Junior ROTC at Westover High School for more than two years.

She joined to prove to her parents and herself she could do it - not because she wants to join the military. She doesn't. Her primary objection is the war in Iraq.

"Why are we fighting?" Leycock asked. "Nobody has really said why the war is still going on. I don't think it should be going on because it's not solving anything. ... None of my people want to go there."

[DIKB]

1. Joining the military

USED to be a good option for minorities and the poor. Now that it looks more like agreeing to be fed into a meat-grinder, the option doesn't have the same appeal.