Memorial Day 2005

May9:The Marines, who have recalled more than 5,000 sets of body armor that failed to pass crucial tests, announce they have also failed to reach their recruitment goal for the fourth straight month. The Army announces it has failed to reach its goal for the past three.

May19:From TheNewYorkTimes:"American military commanders in Baghdad and Washington gave a sobering new assessment on Wednesday of the war in Iraq . . . In interviews and briefings this week, some of the generals pulled back from recent suggestions, some by the same officers, that positive trends in Iraq could allow a major drawdown in the 138,000 American troops late this year or early in 2006. One officer suggested Wednesday that American military involvement could last 'many years.'"