Free Republic

Army's 2005 Goals Won't be Met Miami Herald June 20, 2005 The U.S. Army probably will come up well short of the 80,000 new recruits it needs during fiscal 2005, despite adding a thousand more recruiters, boosting enlistment cash bonuses to a record $20,000, spending $200 million on upbeat television ads and beginning to lower its standards. Easing the strict standards that made the all-volunteer force such a success -- in effect, trading quality for quantity -- could complicate the Pentagon's ambitious plans to transform the Army into an agile, high-tech force in which ordinary soldiers are better equipped to...

WASHINGTON, June 19, 2005 – Americans cannot forget the progress being made in Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said from Jerusalem today. Rice took time off from her trip to the Middle East to speak to Fox News Channel. She said Americans cannot ignore the political and military successes in Iraq. "I would say to the American people, 'Yes, this is very hard and very difficult, but we are making a lot of progress in what will be a strategic breakthrough for the United States, which is to have a different kind of Middle East'" Rice said. Recent polls...