A group of Senate Republicans has begun blaming the news media for the military’s recruiting problems. Senator James Inhofe said families are discouraging young men and women from enlisting “because of all the negative media that’s out there.” Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas added, “With the deluge of negative news that we get daily, it’s just amazing to me that anybody would want to sign up.” The Army is fourteen percent short of its annual target of new recruits. It missed its monthly goals in February, March, April and May. The Army reached its goal for June but that was only because the goal was lower than any other of the year.