Leigh Meyers wrote: > They told cadets seeking a way forward in Iraq that there are no good > options, that things could get even worse, and that we are faced with > Camus's The Plague. They nevertheless got a warm round of applause.
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. i just spent half an hour talking with three military guys on the streets of Connecticut, one infantry, one airborne, one cavalry, all off a tour of duty in iraq and onto three years of "recruiting detail". they literally are walking suburban streets making the case for fighting in iraq. i've never seen such a scripted show from three grunts. even my definitive statement on the Iraq war phased them none. they talked about how the iraqi people are coming out of their homes to welcome the troops. how the fighting is not that bad, they are not under constant attack, they have "down time" too. there was a young woman sitting on a nearby bench, and these guys then launch into the male chauvinist attitude of the common Iraqi man. how they are disrespectful of women, and so forth. the whole thing was so choreographed, coming out of the mouths of kids still with dirt behind their ears, frankly, i wasnt even thinking of the slaughter of Iraqis, i could only think how the military can suck in a part of the lower tier of the working class (quick judgment on my part). but i've never seen such a kind of recruiting campaign. they have groups of three guys walking up and down both sides of the main street, full desert fatigues, smiles, eagerly looking for a friendly face. is this something new??? les schaffer
