This is the type of enemy we face in our own country. Get a load of the "Heroic popular resistance line." How anti Military can one be. This writer would not fight to save his own mother! Also take note of the "Defeat U.S. Imperialism" garbage. Make sure to send an e-mail to the anti American sites and ask them what great plans they have for protecting our nation.
I am sure flowers and flip-flops will be involved!
May 11, 2005 - Socialism and Liberation
Military Recruiters Face Youth and Student Resistance
Against the War Machine
by Ian Thompson
“We’ll give you up to $70,000 for college.” “You won’t have to go to Iraq.” “Your service will only last four years.”
Much of what recruiters promise is based on exaggeration, half-truths and outright lies. Recruiters have to fill quotas and will do almost anything to meet them, especially during wartime.
The U.S. military—the most powerful and destructive in the world—is growing increasingly desperate to fill its ranks.
In 2005 alone, the Army seeks to recruit 101,200 new active-duty regular Army and Reserve soldiers. But recruitment in nearly all branches of the military is down.
The National Guard missed its recruitment quota by 13 percent last year. The Army fell short of its goal by more than 27 percent in February 2005 and is more than six percent behind its year-to-date recruiting target. The Reserve is 10 percent behind its target and the Guard is 26 percent short. January through March 2005 was the first time in a decade that the Marines missed their monthly goals.
What is causing this sudden decline?
The Iraqi resistance is the biggest factor. The popular resistance to occupation in Iraq has fiercely and heroically opposed the U.S. presence from the beginning. Many young people do not want to join the military to die in an unpopular war.
The strength and depth of the massive global anti-war movement has also contributed. Over the past three years, tens of millions have participated in demonstrations opposing war and occupation. The protests have impacted millions more and reflect widespread opposition to the war.
One dynamic new element of the anti-war movement is the growing youth and student movement to stop military recruiters from infiltrating high school and college campuses. Young people all over the country are confronting recruiters, staging protests, and kicking them off campuses by legal means or through militant action.
In response to their dwindling numbers, the military recently added 1,200 recruiters to the field and said it would spend more than the $4 billion already allotted for advertising and recruitment in 2005. It is also increasing economic and educational incentives to entice young people to enter. The military is continuing to push its predatory tactics wherever it can.
Defeat U.S. imperialism
The most advanced sectors of the burgeoning student movement see the anti-recruitment drive as part of the larger fight to stop the war and, ultimately, defeat U.S. imperialism.
According to Aimee Hunter, an 18 year-old student at Mission College in Sylmar, California,
“We are against recruiters because we don’t want working-class people to fight in this imperialist army. Wars like this only benefit Wall Street and big corporations. Instead of fighting against workers in Iraq, we want youth and students to join the struggle here at home.”
Like all imperialist wars, the war and occupation of Iraq hurts working people in Iraq and the United States. This includes workers in uniform who are being used as cannon fodder by the ruling class.
Student activism to keep young people out of the U.S. military serves the worthy goals of diminishing military numbers and building resistance to its hegemonic aims. Those who do not enlist in the military because of these efforts should join the ranks of the people’s movement against imperialist war, racism and bigotry.
http://www.globalresistancenetwork.com/
IT_AgainstTheWarMachine.html
Ian Thompson's article was first published on Socialism and Liberation.
Ian Thompson is a writer and activist in the Los Angeles area. He can be reached at idthomp@yahoo.com
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