The all-volunteer Army is not working. The problem with such an Army is that there are limited numbers of people who will freely choose to participate in an enterprise in which they may well be shot, blown up, burned to death or suffer some other excruciating fate.Herbert speaks with Sandra Lowe, of the Sonoma Valley (California) Unified School District. Sandra and other parents are disturbed by the calls flooding their homes from military recruiters, who are "on campus all the time," giving away perks like "very violent video games". Interesting connection there. Aren't these games cool? Come play our game!
The all-volunteer Army is fine in peacetime, and in military routs like the first gulf war. But when the troops are locked in a prolonged war that yields high casualties, and they look over their shoulders to see if reinforcements are coming from the general population, they find - as they're finding now - that no one is there.
Ms. Lowe said she was especially disturbed by a joint effort of the Defense Department and a private contractor, disclosed last week, to build a database of 30 million 16- to 25-year-olds, complete with Social Security numbers, racial and ethnic identification codes, grade point averages and phone numbers. The database is to be scoured for youngsters that the Pentagon believes can be persuaded to join the military.There oughta be an "Amber Alert" for military recruiters, who pose a much greater danger than stranger-with-candy abductions. Khaki Alert?
Parents all over the country are organizing to fight these dangerous and insidious intruders. One resource Lowe mentions is Leave My Child Alone, which links to Military Free Zone.
7 comments:
Khaki Alert. Love it.
Who would of thought that personal life would be more important to someone than protecting the country from, well, in this case, nothing?
Geez, only an idiot would think of something like that. Oh, wait a sec ...
One of the key reasons the recruiters are having such a hard time is, in my opinion, the fact that most Americans don't think the war is just. Finally some sense is starting to appear amongst the "masses" down there and people are realizing they are just chasing George's buddies oil wealth.
I would have no qualms with joing the Canadian Forces if we were attacked or had to fight in a war to truly help people or defend justice, ie WWII. But I would be pissed to say the least if i ended up fighting in Iraq so that Halliburton could make a few more billion dollars.
Peter
You are correct, sir.
L-girl
I joined the military 13 years ago and have re-enlisted of my own free will 3 different times. Obviously, I have had different commanders-in-chief. I joined for a compassionate love of the nation, not for just who is in office. Dissuading young men and women from joining the armed forces just because of your political views of a particular President? Fine. You have earned that right to express your opinion due largely to actions of individuals like myself some 230 years ago.
Dissuading young men and women from joining the armed forces just because of your political views of a particular President?
Absolutely not. Dissuading young men and women from wasting their lives fighting an immoral war against people who are not their enemies. Trying to save lives.
It has little to do with my views of a particular president, though he started the war. It has more to do with my views of war, life, and justice.
You have earned that right to express your opinion due largely to actions of individuals like myself some 230 years ago.
I disagree with your reading of history. I have this right because women before me fought the system and demanded it become their right. 230 years ago the land of the free was only free for wealthy white men. I would not have been part of that equation.
Thanks for stopping by. Peace be with you.
230 years ago the land of the free was only free for wealthy white men. I would not have been part of that equation.
Nice, tight, surgical cut there. It's true. Even the American Revolution itself was a milestone on a road that started at least with Magna Carta. And without Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and the like, what would there have been for the Patriots and Minutemen to do in the first place? Putting on a uniform, in the right cause, is important... but not more important than the ideas and reasons for which you put it on in the first place.
Putting on a uniform, in the right cause, is important... but not more important than the ideas and reasons for which you put it on in the first place.
Well said. It follows that if putting on the uniform undermines those ideas, it should be resisted.
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