What if they gave a war, and nobody came?

Lovely wife and golden child watched SOTU last night, as yours truly was away listening to a lecture by an old friend (and catching up on old times). It was a school assignment, not a choice.

And she mentioned this morning that Bush asserted our troops will be in Iraq for as long as it takes. Which made her wonder: are the 30 year olds there now going to turn 40 in Iraq?

Who, indeed, is going to fight this fight for the Administration?

For the first time in nearly a decade, the Marine Corps in January missed its monthly recruiting goal, in what military officials said was the latest troubling indicator of the Iraq war's impact on the armed services.

The struggles of the Army, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard to recruit and retain soldiers have received national attention in recent months. But the recent failure of the Marines, who historically have had the luxury of turning away willing recruits, is a potential problem for the service.

The Marines missed their January goal of 3,270 recruits by 84 people, or less than 3 percent. The Marines last missed a monthly goal in July 1995, and 1995 was also the last full year in which the corps fell short of its annual recruiting quota, said Maj. Dave Griesmer, a spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Command.

No draft; fewer people willing to volunteer to be car-bomb fodder in a foreign country. Who is going to pay for this folly? Who is going to go to Iraq to protect our freedom?

Or is that not what Iraq is about, after all?