John Kerry's notorious "stuck in Iraq" statement, echoed by actor Matt Damon, suggesting that the United States military is a last resort for those without the education or finances to pursue other options, has been roundly refuted by Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Bill Carr. Among other areas, Carr has responsibility for recruiting and retenton. Secretary Carr appeared on yesterday's edition of my "rightANGLE" TV show. In addition to commenting on a wide range of recruitment-related topics, Sec. Carr had this to say about the Kerry-Damon remarks:

"Two-thirds of those entering the military are drawn from the top half, so we have a clearly disproportionate, strongly educated, high-aptitude military. With regard to financial status of the parents, that's also misrepresented. The only group that is underrepresented in the military are the poorest. If you look at the zip codes from which they come and then you compare the incomes, using commercial sources, from those zip codes, we're represented exactly as we should be except we're seriously underrepresented among the poorest, and somewhat overrepresented in the middle class. And could I add, the financial elite . . . are represented in exactly their proportion in the population."

Carr theorized that health care issues might explain the underrepresentation of the poorest Americans in the military.

View video of Sec. Carr's comments here.

Although Secretary Carr was too diplomatic to suggest it, my own research indicates that among members of our military, there is another significantly underrepresented demographic: millionaire movie stars.

Mark was in Iraq in November. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.