Stars & Stripes letter: All suffer when standards drop

[lebkuchen]

I am so glad a soldier stepped up and wrote this (excerpted). Bush is driving the US military into the ground.

The military is stretched so thin that recruiting standards have been lowered to allow some convicted felons, gang members, drug abusers and mentally/emotionally unstable recruits into the military. Now, after four soldiers are charged in the rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the deaths of members of her family, we scratch our heads and wonder what went wrong.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=125&article=44157


On a different note, Michael Jackson will be visiting Camp Zama in Japan. Maybe the Walter Reed stories moved him.

“He just wants to let them know ‘America Supports You’ and so does he,” said Maj. Martha Brooks, a U.S. Army Japan spokeswoman.

The Yano Fitness Center will open Saturday at 1:15 p.m., she said. Jackson is scheduled to show up at 3 p.m.

Several activities are planned, including Michael Jackson trivia contests, an imitation dance showdown and karaoke/sing-along battle of the pop icon’s songs. Jackson music videos also will be shown and two youth hip-hop dance performances will take place.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=44180

[Monkeyman]

1. Hate to agree he is right

[lebkuchen]

2. It's gotta be tough being a drill sergeant these days

All the graffiti on the latrine walls would lend credence to the rape of US female soldiers.