Now let me get this straight. The centerpiece of No Child Left Behind is standardized testing, but it is okay to relax testing standards when you can't drum up enough recruits for an unpopular war. According to the notoriously liberal rag USA Today, over 2,000 of this year's recruits performed below the levels that would have been previously required on basic aptitude tests.

The Army said all the recruits with low scores had received high school diplomas. In a written statement, the Army said good test scores do not necessarily equate to quality soldiers. – USA Today

In an unrelated story, the Army changed their tag line from "An Army of One," to "Army Strong" (Thanks, McCann, who get $200 million a year for the campaign!)

Perhaps the old tag line seemed a bit, well, premonitory.

And it's not just lower test standards. Drug users, criminals, gang members, and skinheads area all welcome. See also the SF Chronicle story, "U.S. Recruiting Misfits"