Recruiting Update and Anti-War Attack

As documented here on many occasions and over time, our military adequately is recruiting and retaining soldiers. For example, as of September 30th, the end of Fiscal Year 2008:

Active Duty Recruiting Fiscal 2008. All services met or exceeded their recruiting goals for fiscal 2008.

- The Army had 80,517 accessions, making 101 percent of its 80,000 goal.

- The Navy had 38,485 accessions, making 100 percent of its 38,419 goal.

-The Marine Corps had 37,991 accessions, making 100 percent of its 37,967 goal.

- The Air Force had 27,848 accessions, making 100 percent of its 27,800 goal.

Active Duty Retention. Army and Navy exceeded their fiscal 2008 targets. Although the Marine Corps retained far more first term personnel than last year, it did not meet its ambitious first term reenlistment goals and it achieved 95 percent total retention. Air Force missed its end-of-year mission in each reenlistment zone. We expect to see Air Force retention rates improve gradually through fiscal 2009, and we anticipate that Air Force will meet its fiscal 2009 end strength mission.

Reserve Forces Accessions . . . All six reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for fiscal 2008.

- The Army National Guard brought in 65,192 accessions, 103 percent of its 63,000 goal; the Army Reserve brought in 39,870 accessions, 106 percent of its 37,500 goal.

- The Navy Reserve brought in 9,134 accessions, 100 percent of its 9,122 goal. The Marine Corps Reserve brought in 7,628 accessions, 100 percent of its 7,628 goal.

- The Air National Guard brought in 10,749 accessions, 126 percent of its 8,548 goal, while the Air Force Reserve brought in 7,323 accessions, 105 percent of its 6,963 goal.

The most recent February 2009 figures showed all services meeting or exceeding quotas in recruiting, retention, and reserve accessions, including Marine and Navy retentions.

This enrages elite lefties and the media. Many respond by flat-out lying about the numbers or slandering our soldiers.

But that's nothing compared to Berkeley California. At best, the town's hostility is reflected in city council declarations that the local Marine recruiting office "is not welcome in the city, and if recruiters choose to stay, they do so as uninvited and unwelcome intruders." Then local left-wing wackos practically rioted in front of the office, amid claims of police brutality, and protests have persisted for months. Last week, Berkeley's peace-loving progressives showed their commitment to pacifism via violence:

The United States Marine Corps Officer Selection Office in downtown Berkeley came under attack once again Wednesday night when a group of vandals broke the building’s windows with sledgehammers and splashed them with red paint.

Officers at the recruiting center at 64 Shattuck Square were not able to say whether the incident was related to protests taking place throughout the rest of the country on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war.

Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Andrew Frankel said the police received a call at 8:54 p.m. Wednesday from an eyewitness who reported that three suspects were breaking the Marine Corps office’s plate-glass windows and splashing them with red paint.

Eyewitnesses saw the suspects leave the scene immediately after the crime, Frankel said. Berkeley police officers combed the neighborhood for suspects and talked to eyewitnesses but were unable to find the culprits. . .

Staff Sergeant Matt Deboard. . . said that, according to eyewitness accounts, a group of vandals attacked the recruiting station around 8 p.m., hitting its windows with sledgehammers and "slopping gooey thick red paint on them."

Pictures here.

Unsurprisingly, the local radical press celebrated the vandalism (spelling in original):

At 9PM on March 18th, the eve of the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq, a group of persons wearing masks smashed the windows and splattered red paint at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California.

The center has been the target of protests for the last 18 months, and stands as a symbol of U.S. militarism and imperialist wars. The act of property distruction stands alone as the embodyment of frustration of a people whos government does not listen to or care about them.

Police have not made any arrests but are reviewing the tape, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. A sledgehammer and a crowbar were found in a nearby garbage can nearby, and are being reviewing as evidence. After breaking windows and improving the Marine Corps logo at the center, the group wearing masks and dark clothing scattered in three different directions, police said.

As of the time of this posting, no one involved has been arrested. The act was easy. You and a few friends could have pulled it off any day.

NO MORE IMPERIALIST WARS!!!

NO MORE GOVERNMENT!!!

SMASH THE STATE!!!

Zomblog reprints the article should the Indybay link die. And see the similar attack in New Zealand, whose deployment in Iraq amounted to a single observer and 61 engineers who left in 2004.

Despite their occasional denials, many progressives hate our troops and our country. Yet, as Cassy Fiano observes on Wizbang, they're too cowardly to take the troops on directly:

Of course they didn't vandalize it when the Marines were inside. They'd get their asses kicked and they know it.

Scratch a liberal and find a fascist--and a wimp.