The American Spectator

p> THE FEW, THE PROUD br> Re: Ben Stein’s Recruitment Improvement : /p> p>Just keep posting Ben Stein’s column first and foremost every time. He says it better, and more direct to the point, than any one else out there. He’s a great American, and we need more like him. br> — John P. br> Elmhurst, Illinois /p>

Ben Stein’s blame of the mainstream media for causing poor enlistment in our military is off the mark, although he is correct that the fear of one’s son or daughter being killed in Iraq is hurting recruitment. But the media would be derelict if it did not report the facts of the war and, let’s face it — the war is not going well. Last month 67 U.S. soldiers were killed in what appears to be an endless cycle of suicide attacks on our forces. Americans just don’t understand how the world’s only superpower can’t “decisively” win against a vastly inferior enemy.

The real reason recruitment is down is because this quick-victory war seems to be going on forever with no abatement of U.S. casualties. I blame the conservative media, especially talk radio, for the current Iraq situation. Conservatives have failed to criticize the Bush administration “from the right” on their tepid prosecution of the war; instead, till this day, they act like Bush cheerleaders — and it is costing too many American soldiers to die needlessly. The real truth is that President Bush went correctly to war with Iraq but with a Clinton-like dovish prosecution.

From the get-go we went to war in Iraq on the cheap, with far too few troops and then we fought a politically correct war. Saddam’s troops were allowed to blend back into the population with their weapons. Looting was permitted. Fallujah for a long time was a sanctuary for the insurgency to regroup and strengthen. Mosques are still safe havens for the insurgents. In addition, we prosecuted soldiers like Lt. Pantano for fighting like Audie Murphy. And most of all, we have allowed Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia to be safe havens for terrorists to freely enter and leave Iraq to kill American soldiers with impunity. Would we have won World War II fighting like this?

The conservative media is supposed to be the beacon of truth, but they spin (to cover Bush’s failures) just like the MSM (except they favor the Dems) and it is hurting the country, especially on winning the war on terror. Failure to win decisively in Iraq is emboldening our enemies, including North Korea and Iran, who now see America as a paper tiger.