An interesting, and long segment on NPR yesterday explored the recruiting methods of the US Army to fill the needs of the volunteer ARMY OF ONE! It confirmed my feeling that most of the men and women grunts over there are poor kids seeking adventure away from their dreary lives, or need the money badly to finance their way through school. The recruiter in Texas hits the small campuses spreading happy talk about adventure, jumping out of planes, guarding your nation AND for $250 per month WHILE you attend school.
And so they go. It is all very understandable. They also had a kid calling his dad after signing up to let him in on the news. The father did not sound excited at all. But the kid ended the conversation, "well it's done. I'm in the Army now Dad."
At 18 you can make those decisions without any approval by parents. Check the list of the dead. An awful lot of 18 and 19 year olds mixed in those 800-plus. Very scary.
And in a few months, that kid may be in Irag, or Afghanistan, or Syria or wherever Bush's Masters of War pick in the near future.
This from the New York Times today:
WASHINGTON, May 20 — A series of Justice Department memorandums written in late 2001 and the first few months of 2002 were crucial in building a legal framework for United States officials to avoid complying with international laws and treaties on handling prisoners, lawyers and former officials say.
The confidential memorandums, several of which were written or co-written by John C. Yoo, a University of California law professor who was serving in the department, provided arguments to keep United States officials from being charged with war crimes for the way prisoners were detained and interrogated. They were endorsed by top lawyers in the White House, the Pentagon and the vice president's office but drew dissents from the State Department.
The memorandums provide legal arguments to support administration officials' assertions that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to detainees from the Afghanistan war. They also suggested how officials could inoculate themselves from liability by claiming that abused prisoners were in some other nation's custody.
We've heard that excuse before haven't we.
I am embarrassed for our nation. But the chagrin does not go very deep in the Republican Party.
And so they go. It is all very understandable. They also had a kid calling his dad after signing up to let him in on the news. The father did not sound excited at all. But the kid ended the conversation, "well it's done. I'm in the Army now Dad."
At 18 you can make those decisions without any approval by parents. Check the list of the dead. An awful lot of 18 and 19 year olds mixed in those 800-plus. Very scary.
And in a few months, that kid may be in Irag, or Afghanistan, or Syria or wherever Bush's Masters of War pick in the near future.
This from the New York Times today:
WASHINGTON, May 20 — A series of Justice Department memorandums written in late 2001 and the first few months of 2002 were crucial in building a legal framework for United States officials to avoid complying with international laws and treaties on handling prisoners, lawyers and former officials say.
The confidential memorandums, several of which were written or co-written by John C. Yoo, a University of California law professor who was serving in the department, provided arguments to keep United States officials from being charged with war crimes for the way prisoners were detained and interrogated. They were endorsed by top lawyers in the White House, the Pentagon and the vice president's office but drew dissents from the State Department.
The memorandums provide legal arguments to support administration officials' assertions that the Geneva Conventions did not apply to detainees from the Afghanistan war. They also suggested how officials could inoculate themselves from liability by claiming that abused prisoners were in some other nation's custody.
We've heard that excuse before haven't we.
I am embarrassed for our nation. But the chagrin does not go very deep in the Republican Party.
posted by Robert | 8:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home