Yesterday, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker discussed recruitment with the press. Although the Army will probably fall short of its annual enlistment goal, re-enlistment — especially in combat units — is phenomenal. So what part of that story do you think the Washington Post chose to highlight?

Army Likely to Meet August’s, But Not Year’s, Recruiting Goal
Expanding Force in Coming Months Expected to Be Difficult
The Army is expected to meet or exceed its monthly recruiting goal for August but is likely to miss its annual goal for the fiscal year that ends next month amid one of the most difficult recruiting environments since it became an all-volunteer force, the Army’s chief of staff said yesterday.

We don’t hear about the re-enlistment rates until the seventh paragraph. This wouldn’t be such a bad story, but compare it to this one from, of all places, Agence France Press:

Army chief says re-enlistment strong, force not broken
WASHINGTON (AFP) – High re-enlistment rates in combat units that have served in Iraq shows the army is far from being a broken force despite a likely shortfall in recruiting, the army’s chief of staff said.
“I think we’re a heck of a long way away from the breaking the army. It is a lot more resilient than people believe,” General Peter Schoomaker told reporters here.

The high re-enlistment rates have been available since the Pentagon released the figures August 10th, but as this editorial in the Boston Herald points out, they’ve been completely ignored. They don’t fit into the MSM’s “we’re all going to hell in a handbasket” framework.