The Obama Troop Surge (its not what you think)

USA Today reported that "the percentage of recruits requiring a waiver to join the Army because of a criminal record or other past misconduct has more than doubled since 2004 to one for every eight new soldiers. The increase reflects the difficulties the Army faces in attracting young men and women into the military at a time of war. 'Each month is a struggle, for the Army in particular,' said Bill Carr, a top military personnel official."

The press and the public have assumed as a fact that need not be proven that it is tough to recruit in a time of war. They have it wrong. It is not tough to recruit because the nation is at war. Recruiting stations were mobbed right after September 11, 2001, and it was clear then that we were going to send troops abroad to fight. There was a "wave of interest immediately after" the attacks, and recruiting was "going well" even a year later.

It was not until the Iraq war became clear for what it was -- a war that should never have been waged -- that recruiting tanked.

The official press line, that recruiting is hard during war, implies that the United States is a nation of cowards afraid to fight at a time of war. Such a claim is not just wrong, but it flies in the face of history. This nation has had no shortage of volunteers willing to fight the good fight. But the United States of a nation of reason, a nation of laws. We are a country not afraid to fight an unjust war, but a country unwilling to fight an unjust war.

The next President will inherit a military that has been decimated by poor recruiting, overextended tours, "stop loss" provisions being used in a manner that keeps families split far beyond their expectations, inexplicable resistance to body armor and up-armored vehicles, poor veterans programs upon troops' return.... The list is long. But the list also exudes a theme: At every turn, the Bush administration has taken what it wanted from our troops and given them less than they expected and deserved in return. Soldiers who volunteer to fight expect and deserve to be treated with respect by their commander in chief.

In order to repair this damage, and bring the military back to where it must be, the next President must be trusted by potential recruits to treat them right. To not start wars without purpose.

John McCain clearly cannot make this promise. A war without end in Iraq, new preemptive wars against Iran and others, represent an emboldening of the Bush policy on troops.

But neither can Hillary Clinton make this promise. She authorized Bush not only to invade Iraq, but also to take military action against Iran. Preemptive wars both. She has closed the door on diplomacy, saying in essence that once somebody is our enemy, it would unjustly reward them to negotiate with them. This policy, unfortunately, may leave war -- even though otherwise avoidable -- as the inevitable outcome. With Hillary Clinton in office, potential soldiers -- soldiers who hope to bravely go to battle in a just war -- will still ask "can I trust you to treat me right?" "Can I trust that this war was truly necessary?"

Barack Obama, on the other hand, has made clear that war is not his first option. He is not afraid to talk to enemies. He knows, and says, as Kennedy did, that we must never negotiate from fear, but we must never fear to negotiate. And ultimately, he is the only candidate to have voted against authorizing Bush's war in Iraq and against authorizing preemptive action against Iran.

We need a recruitment surge to fill the ranks and, more importantly, to relieve the overextended national guard and other troops who are even today fighting well beyond their original terms of service. But we cannot achieve that surge unless the troops know that they are there to heroically fight wars that are unavoidable, just, and necessary. In short, if they fear the next President will send them to the next Iraq, they will stay home.

Only Barack Obama can make the promises our recruits need to hear. And for this reason, only Barack Obama can ensure a strong military emerges from the wake of Bush's folly.