[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by shadha

JRollDiddy: The British Army is facing a real recruitment crisis. No one (or very few anyway) wants to go and fight in Iraq.

As is the American military. I think all branches by far missed their mark- maybe not the Air Force? Though, I know even the Air Force was trying to give people bonuses to reenlist/change job title. At the end of the year, didn't Obama call on Americans to join the military and expand the number of Army and Marines by thousands and "properly training and equipping our troops to face the battles of the 21st Century"?


shadha-

Yeah, I don't know what the situation is like in the US, but over here the main reasons people don't want to join the Army so much anymore (in my observation) is that:

a) they think they will be sent to Iraq
b) the British media shows Iraq to be hell on earth, and I guess that makes the potential recruits feel there's a real high possibility that they will die
c) most Brits are aware that there is no national interest in Iraq, and that who wants to give their life for "Queen and Country", when the country is against what they're doing.
d) the other major British deployment is in Afghanistan. People (including potential recruits) are deathly afraid of the Taliban thanks to British media coverage of the conflict.