[Peace-discuss] Starve the Beast

[Ricky Baldwin]

This *is* a good one.  Do we have a volunteer to write
a letter to the editor on it?  (Plagiarism, I believe,
in letters to the editor is tried and true, in case
anyone wonders :-)

-Ricky
--- "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> [A good analysis of the situation and one thing that
> can be
> done about it.  --CGE] 
> 
> >Starve the Beast
> >byAnthony Lappe
> >Sat Jul 30, 1:04 AM ET
> >
> >This week's talk of "withdrawal in 2006" (20,000
> troops, 
> >possibly, if the Constitution gets finished, things
> go well 
> >with the elections, the insurgents convert to
> Tibetan 
> >Buddhism, etc.) is a sham, as the New York Times'
> Bob 
> >Herbert points out. The long-term goal was, and
> still is, to 
> >establish a permanent base of operations in Iraq to
> control 
> >the world's last great oil reserves. That doesn't
> mean there 
> >couldn't very well be troop reductions next year.
> But they 
> >may have more to do with human resources than human
> rights.
> >
> >Last week, the Army's top personnel officer
> announced the 
> >Army won't meet its recruiting goals for 2005. So
> far this 
> >year, the active-duty Army has enlisted 47,121
> recruits. The 
> >goal was 80,000. There's little chance to make up
> the gap 
> >the official conceded, the Times reported. Forget
> the still 
> >relatively small U.S. death toll. These are the
> numbers that 
> >keep the Pentagon brass up at night. The Army is
> being 
> >pushed to the breaking point, and that, more than
> anything, 
> >may be what's fueling the administration's new
> emphasis on 
> >"withdrawal" from Iraq.
> >
> >Frustrated with seeing the largest street protests
> since 
> >Vietnam marginalized by the mainstream media and
> dismissed 
> >by the president as a "focus group," thousands of
> antiwar 
> >youth are targeting this Achilles' heel of the
> neocon master 
> >plan.
> >
> >"We think counter-recruitment is the smartest way
> to 
> >intervene with the war in Iraq," John Sellers,
> founder of 
> >the Ruckus Society [http://www.ruckus.org ], told
> me. "Until 
> >Rumsfeld's robot army is up and running, they're
> going to 
> >need young men and women to fight. We feel the most
> 
> >effective strategy is to support the youth who are 
> >questioning our nation's values and resisting war
> for 
> >resources."
> >
> >Ruckus has teamed up with Code Pink 
> >[http://www.codepink4peace.org ], the League of
> Independent 
> >Voters and other antiwar groups, to create 
> >http://Notyoursoldier.org , an organizing hub for 
> >counter-recruiting actions. Later this summer, the
> group is 
> >organizing counter-recruiting training camps in
> five cities 
> >for a major campaign on campuses across the country
> this fall.
> >
> >Earlier this year, the brains behind the popular
> Punk Voter 
> >CD launched http://Militaryfreezone.org . A little
> known 
> >provision in the No Child Left Behind Act requires
> high 
> >schools that receive federal funding to provide
> dossiers on 
> >students to recruiters. But students can opt out of
> the 
> >program by getting their parents to sign a simple
> form. 
> >http://Militaryfreezone.org offers the form in a 
> >downloadable PDF.
> >
> >Recruiters have proven easy targets because they're
> liars. 
> >As fewer and fewer young Americans decide to trade
> in their 
> >PlayStations for the ultimate first-person shooter
> game, 
> >recruiters have become desperate. They promise
> funds for 
> >college that don't exist. They tell potential
> recruits they 
> >won't end up in Iraq. They even break the law.
> >
> >Recruiters in Houston were recently busted for
> offering to 
> >help a potential recruit cheat on his drug test. In
> Indiana, 
> >recruiters allegedly forged physicals. In Seattle,
> a quiet, 
> >rule-abiding 18-year old reported being virtually
> kidnapped 
> >by a team of recruiters and held over night before
> agreeing 
> >to enlist. His mother had to hire a lawyer to get
> him out of 
> >the contract.
> >
> >It got so bad that the Pentagon had to call for a
> one-day 
> >halt of all recruiting activities around the
> country so 
> >recruiters could take a special training course on
> how not 
> >to break the law. Shortly after, the Army announced
> it was 
> >lowering standards for criminal records, mental
> health, 
> >intelligence, even the length of enlistment.
> They're 
> >considering offering up to a $40,000 signing bonus.
> >
> >Scared attacking U.S. military recruiting efforts
> might seem 
> >"unpatriotic"?
> >
> >According to a recent poll, a majority of Americans
> have 
> >finally come to the realization that the war in
> Iraq wasn't 
> >just a diversion from the real war on terror -- it
> is now 
> >actually making us less safe.
> >
> >The invasion and occupation of Iraq has been a boon
> for 
> >jihadist recruiters from Leeds to Lahore to
> Fallujah. It's 
> >time to stop our recruiters from helping theirs.
> >
> >###
> 
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