COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us

Army officials are pushing for authorization to up active duty enlistment bonuses to $40,000 for a six year enlistment in certain hard-to-fill job specialties.

The Army may also offer $50,000 home mortgage assistance packages.

That's all very nice. But the reason recruiting is falling short isn't because of the money. It's about the culture war, and it's about continuing to fail to make the case about why we're in Iraq and the good that American arms are still doing over there.

It's also a matter of elitist parents who believe that their own children are somehow above military service.

It's also a matter of a media culture which is ignorant or hostile towards military interests - where the default position is skepticism of the military, balanced with an uncritical view of the Army's detractors. It's a matter of a media culture in which former SGT Mejia, who in past wars would be hanged as a deserter, can become a minor media cause celebre, and warrant a spot on 60 Minutes, as if deserting ones comrades in arms in time of war can be somehow elevated from reprehensible and shameful conduct to "controversial" status.

This is a failure of leadership from the very top of the journalism and media profession. Our young, impressionable new reporters, undereducated, underpaid, and vulnerable to the siren songs of cynicism, are looking to their elders for role models and finding the reprehensible like of Eason Jordan and Linda Foley. The former bright star of Pentagon journalism, Sy Hersh, lets loose with unsubstantiated rumor after unsubstantiated rumor, and his notoriety and fame within the pundit and journalism world only increase. These are the people responsible for setting the culture of the newsroom. And they themselves have become slanderers.

Think young potential recruits (and their parents and high school counselors, teachers, coaches, and other influencers) don't see that? Think it doesn't take a toll?

It's also a failure of the political leadership (The Bush Administration) to cut through the media's predictable BS and make the case: The profession of arms is a noble one, ours is the cause of freedom, and we need you with us.)

Looking at it in economic terms, it may be a matter of marginal utility. Additional bonuses offered beyond a certain point will provide diminishing returns. Many of those who signed on for a $40,000 bonus would have signed on for a $30,000 or $35,000 bonus, anyway. Thats' $5,000 to $10,000 per soldier for which the taxpayer recieves no additional value.

And many of those who have not signed up with the existing bonus structure would not sign up at any price.

All is for nought though, without first (re)winning the culture war.

It's not the money. It's the bling bling.

Splash, out

Jason