Hey Lavdump , do you believe everything you read or are you working for the US propaganda machine? That's pretty strong rhetoric you're spouting there. I don't dispute that the US is the largest and best equipped of all but sometimes "largest" and "best technology" doesn't work. If you look around and read more widely, you may discover that the Iraqis actually learnt after 1991 that you can't beat the US in a maneouver warfare environment - large, wide-open spaces where the enormous US machine can run free. They're doing what any smart opponent would do and turning their adversary's strengths into a weakness by taking it in to the urban environment where the high tech stuff can't see or go. The next one won't be so straight forward. Be careful when you rely on technology (eg cruise missiles and stealth) because sometimes low-tech wins out (eg inflateable boats packed with explosives). I'm with BigAir - the US often creates more problems than it fixes.
As for recruiting in an unstable globle environment, haven't we seen that already? Sep 11? No commercial organisation is going to invest in huge capital expenditure if there is instability.