THE SOBS at The Associated Press are at it again. Even a cursory reading of this story shows how desperately misleading the lead and headline are. I suppose we can expect to see this as a front page, 48-pointer at the Japan Times, a newspaper that has lost all touch with reality and really needs some adult supervision.
"Army desertion rate up 80 pct. since '03"
WASHINGTON - Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.
Holy shit, Sarge! They must be abandoning their posts in fucking droves. An 80 percent increase indeed! ... all the way up to an astronomical rate of 0.9 percent.
Maybe not a bad time to explain the difference between AWOL (Away Without Leave) and desertion. A member of the military is AWOL if he is away from his command without permission up to 30 days. He may be classified as a deserter on day 30.
