I am sure by now you have heard that the US Army had an 80% increase in the desertion rate since 2003. Or did you hear how the desertion rates are the highest rate since 1980?? If not simply look at all the news reports, CBS, ABC, AP and many many others. But like many things the media and others have tried to do, they have forgotten about the power of the internet and the availability of information because of it. Here is what they are saying:

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.

While the totals are still far lower than they were during the Vietnam War, when the draft was in effect, they show a steady increase over the past four years - and a 42 percent jump since last year.

According to the Army, about nine in every 1,000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007 (which ended Sept. 30), compared to nearly seven per 1,000 a year earlier. Overall, 4,698 soldiers deserted this year, compared to 3,301 last year.
(Source CBS News - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/16/national/main3513410.shtml?source=mostpop_story )

If after reading these reports you asked yourself, "Is this true?" then you are beginning to get the x-generation mind set. Check the facts for yourself first, don't trust the media numbers anymore.

So here is what I find interesting about this report. They failed to mention that the desertion rate now is LESS than that of just before the war. That’s right, again they failed to mention a little fact like, in 2001 and 2002 the desertion rates were higher than they are now, even with the "Soldiers strained by six years at war ". What?? You mean to tell me that the desertion rate was higher before the war then it is now? So what’s the story then? That’s just it, there is none. Only that the media is trying to create one.

The military desertion rates for the military were higher in the two years before the war than they are now, even with the increase recently. in fact if you look, there was a drastic drop in the desertion rate right after we went to war. We went from 9.50 per 1000 in 2001 and 9.26 in 2002 to 7.60 in 2003 and then even farther down to 4.91 in 2004.

So what is the story here? The story is that there really is no story, only the one that the media wanted to create and others picked up and ran with, forgetting to do their homework. Shame on you CBS, maybe you didn’t learn about fact checking enough from your other errors.