Word: pentagons
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Gist: With wars on two fronts and increasingly bellicose threats from North Korea and Iran, the Pentagon has continued to lower its recruiting standards to meet the ever-increasing demand for U.S. troops. Even so, the agency recently found that 75% of Americans ages 17 to 24 are ineligible to enlist - largely because of either a lack of education, a criminal record, poor fitness or all of the above. In the wake of the Pentagon's findings, nearly 100 retired and active-duty military commanders have launched "Mission: Readiness," a report on why America's youth needs to shape...
...Lowdown: Less than a month after the Pentagon celebrated meeting its annual recruiting goals for the first time since 1973, this report serves as a grim reality check. "During economic downturns, higher numbers of well-qualified candidates seek to enlist and the military can temporarily rely less on waivers for those with academic deficits or criminal records. But a weak economy is no formula for a strong military. Once the economy begins to grow again, the challenge of finding enough high-quality recruits will return...
...State, a noble antique, is still trying to come to terms with the invention of the telephone. In an era when Twitter haiku-messaging rules, diplomacy moves at the speed, and requires the nuanced complexity, of literature. Power has drifted from State to the National Security Council and the Pentagon, especially in wartime. Only a few of Clinton's recent predecessors have distinguished themselves. Henry Kissinger, a National Security Adviser who belatedly became Secretary of State, was Richard Nixon's schizophrenic alter ego; George Shultz was a strong policy voice in the Reagan Administration; James Baker had clout because...
...Petraeus and Holbrooke ("my two alpha males," she calls them) for the first time - at her home in Washington on the Friday before the Obama Inauguration. The affection and respect she gained for the military while serving in the Senate has helped make the relationship between State and the Pentagon less fraught than usual - although Defense Secretary Gates' insistence on the need for bigger State Department budgets hasn't hurt. In fact, relations with the Pentagon have gone smoother, at times, than Clinton's relationship with the White House staff. Clinton was particularly irritated by the ridiculously strict vetting process...
...knows that as well as McChrystal. "Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) - while Afghan security capacity matures - risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," he wrote on Aug. 30. If, as some at the Pentagon expect, Obama won't decide on how many reinforcements to send until near the month's end, that represents three months of McChrystal's critical year...