Buffet of brothers

There’s nothing new in stating the Pentagon hadn’t been too discerning in who they enlisted as cannon fodder for the Bush administration’s perma-wars, but with critics’ focus on all the convicts and gang members now wearing military garb, little attention was being paid to the soldiers eating their way to the bottom of the barrel that the army was scraping. Now a new study showing a drastic rise in troop obesity since 2003 has Pentagon eyes opened like the top button on a pair of standard-issue, desert camo pantaloons.

Prior to the Iraq war, stats on overweight and obese recruits loomed around the one-in-every-100 mark. The latest numbers, published in the January edition of the Defense Department’s Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, show the ratio to be closer to one in 20. The study faults the stress of extended deployment and repeated tours-of-duty for the bulk of the bulk issues.

In addition to being cause for concern to the world’s Muslims who now also have to worry about whether or not they look tasty, the report calls into question troop readiness, explaining that obesity “is associated with decreased military operational effectiveness.”

by SCOTT SAXON