Now how do the Marines overcome this problem? The age of the recruit is probably not much younger than some of the Marines themselves were when they enlisted. The difference is the military would have weeded-out a number of them before they reached basic training; others are removed if they don’t measure up to standards during training, sadly some not until it was too late. However, you get what you get and have to instill higher standards into the recruit.

Speaking on my own experience in dealing with people that should never have been hired to the position they were given I will make a few points.  The question would be; how would one go about accomplishing this task?  I have an answer, but some groups would have a conniption for having made such a suggestion, probably because they suffer the same lack.  Since I can count on the U.S. would never implement my idea; what other options would be available.  The first thing would be, get rid of the corruption. Not an easy task, if the root of the corruption sits at the top.  Given that elections in Afghanistan were at the very least questionable, one must start elsewhere, and must consider that the courts may also be corrupt.

Some years ago, the elected head of the agency that I worked for was, let’s say might have been considered being two clowns short of being a circus. Without the help of the media, the citizens would never have known what kind of circus was really going on. He hired people that didn’t meet the then minimum of hiring standards so he lowered them until he could hire his “well qualified” workers that he preferred. I had to deal with file clerks and supervisors that could not read or write, seriously, if some of them had to spell the word cat, they wouldn’t know where to begin.  They were the least of the problems we had to deal with.  One might suggest teaching them to read and write, which takes a lot of time, but worth the effort if you have that luxury. I wasn’t in that position back then and I don’t think the Marines are now either, at least not with the time table Obama has suggested.

At least those with drug problems are removed, stealing candy is another matter. One might consider if the recruits will steal candy intended for children, then they might be doing other things such as taking goods from the bazaar without paying, perhaps they have a feeling of entitlement.  How do you instill in someone that integrity is valuable, in a culture that is vastly different to our own, once willingly given up, near impossible to regain?

The Marines have their jobs cut out for them, and are in need of our prayers.

Candace Clark

Christian Political View