Uncle Sam wants YOU! And your uncle...

Now it isn't just College Republicans who can weasel out of the war they love so much-- so can their pro-war uncles! I'm kidding, of course. All this really means is that we can't sustain troop levels in Iraq with current recruitment levels. Since youngsters aren't too keen on signing up at this point, maybe they can find some nice middle-aged Beetle Baileys (after all, he's gotta be sixty or so by now).

The Defense Department quietly asked Congress on Monday to raise the maximum age for military recruits to 42 for all branches of the service.

Under current law, the maximum age to enlist in the active components is 35, while people up to age 39 may enlist in the reserves. By practice, the accepted age for recruits is 27 for the Air Force, 28 for the Marine Corps and 34 for the Navy and Army, although the Army Reserve and Navy Reserve sometimes take people up to age 39 in some specialties.

The Pentagon’s request to raise the maximum recruit age to 42 is part of what defense officials are calling a package of “urgent wartime support initiatives” sent to Congress Monday night prior to a Tuesday hearing of the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee.