Question 4: Ike Skelton (D-MO)

Question 4: Ranking Member Mr. Ike Skelton (D-MO)

Summary: During WWII there was sacrifice by everyone in the country. Today, though many people understand that we're at war, would you amplify on what you meant when you said that the American people were not behind the war?

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Response from General Wesley Clark
transcript by RegNYC

Well, what I meant was that in terms of the support that the all-volunteer force needs to go out and gain recruits, you can see the backing away that's going on right now.

After 9/11 there was a wave of patriotism that swept the country, but as the fighting continues in Iraq and we continue to suffer losses and people understand the full consequences of coming in, the military, then the people who are out there doing it are telling me that they're not getting the full support that they'd like to have.

We're not getting the recruits that we used to get in. The Army's missed its shortfall in February, or missed its recruiting objective in February. It's missed it in March. And the Army leadership, as it's reported to me, doesn't believe that this is simply a matter of dollars.

They believe that it's more fundamental than that. That it's not a matter of doubling re-enlistment bonuses or giving more access to schooling, rather that something's shifting, that for whatever reason the way they see it is, people weren't asked to sacrifice, and somehow it's translating now into their difficulties in meeting recruiting objectives.

I think there's still tremendous support and admiration for the men and women in uniform. I think it's a question of whether adequate numbers of people are going to volunteer to serve in uniform.