Mark Shields: No matter what happens. I mean, the readiness of the United States military – I'm talking about talking to military people. They know we're stretched thin to the point of breaking. It is that bad. Right now, just as an example of what we're facing, three times as many moral waivers had to be given. A moral waiver is given when you're seeking a recruit. You don't want recruits with prison records or rap sheets. Three times as many had to be given in 2007 as were given three years earlier. Those are people who've committed multiple misdemeanors and/or a felony.
And we had the lowest percentage of high school graduates enroll, enlist in 2007 we had in 25 years. And the reality is this, that if you're not a high school graduate, one half of them don't complete, by the Pentagon's own studies, don't complete basic training. I mean, so when we're giving $40,000 bonuses to enlistees, I mean, a private, I mean, this thing, Jim, we don't have it. And all three candidates, Obama, McCain and Clinton, all said, "Oh, we're going to expand the military. We're going to expand. Of course, we're going to grow the military." We can't. We can't. I mean, unless they have the honesty to say, "We're going to have to draft people in this country," and at which point there would be a revolt.
