S A T U R D A Y , J U N E 1 1 , 2 0 0 5Army Bonuses: Up To $40,000 and Countingby Michael in New York on 6/11/2005 03:58:00 PMThis is getting ridiculous.</p><p> Our men and women in uniformdeserve only the best, but the quagmire of Iraq (created byBush) is forcing our military to up the ante substantially so thatour "all volunteer" military starts to look more and more likepaid mercenaries.</p><p> Now the Army is offering bonuses up to$40,000 for certain jobs, not to mention up to $50,000 inhome mortgage help.</p><p> All you have to do is sign up for eightyears.</p><p> And heck, since the people who only signed up for fouryears have to keep serving anyway thanks to a backdoor draft,what's the big deal?Bush is truly damaging our long-term safety by abusing thevery nature of the National Guard and Reserves, betraying ourtroops by not keeping our promises to them (in equipment,safety, tour of duty length, etc.) and turning recruitment into adesperate cash bonanza.What Bush isn't doing: pushing for more permanent troops,pushing for better benefits for the National Guard andreservists, or even pretending there's an exit strategy for Iraq(where our troops will be mired for a good decade or more,according to his people).What Bush is doing: spending millions to root out desperatelyneeded gay and lesbian soldiers willing to fight and die for theircountry, lowering standards by accepting older recruits asofficers and looking the other way when it comes to past"minor" crimes.</p><p> Inspiring, isn't it? 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