September 29, 2004
Support Your Local Veteran
Fewer than two-thirds of the former soldiers being reactivated for duty in Iraq and elsewhere have reported on time, prompting the Army to threaten some with punishment for desertion.
The former soldiers, part of what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), are being recalled to fill shortages in skills needed for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another indication of soldiers' reluctance to fight an immoral war is offered by the Center on Conscience & War:
After September 11, our organization was getting about one or two calls a week. Now, it's closer to two or three a day. One guy said: "I was pulling the trigger of my weapon and praying to God that I would miss, and I can't do it anymore." Another guy who was in Iraq said his commander ordered him to hold his boot over the head of a two-month-old baby to force his parents to talk.
Not only, "So much for Donald H. Rumsfeld's 21st Century military." But also, as this blog has noted over and over, so much for, "With us or with the terrorists." So much for "Good v. Evil". So much for, "This generation's World War II." Nobody -- least of all those being compelled to kill, torture, and terrorise in your name; to be shot at, despised, and exposed to your radiological munitions -- wants your execrable wars, George; save for a very few fat-assed, uneducated, white, male, pseudo-religious, chicken-hawks incestuously connected with the oil and weapons industries. So go fuck yourself off, already. Or take your fucking circle-jerk "friends" and "advisers" and go live on the fucking moon. Anything. Just get your fucking Big Brother Government out of our fucking lives. Okay? (No, that's not an endorsement of John Kerry.)
"The numbers did not look good," said Lt. Col. Burton Masters, a spokesman for the Army's Human Resources Command. "We are tightening the system, reaching the people and bringing them in."
Democracy, or slavery? You decide!
Masters said most of the requests for exemptions are likely to be denied: "To get an exemption, it has to be a very compelling case, such as a severe medical condition."
But don't hold your breath, there, soldier: if a partially deaf 57-year-old with skin cancer and high blood pressure isn't quite compelling enough, then...well, you do the math.
Several of those who received recall notices have already been declared AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) and technically are considered deserters. "We are not in a rush to put someone in the AWOL category," Masters said. "We contact them and convince them it is in their best interests to show up. If you are a deserter, it can affect you the rest of your life."
But of course some deserters can become President of these United States. It all kinda depends upon who you know.
...their names will be entered into a national criminal investigation database, and they could be arrested if, for example, they are stopped by a police officer for a routine traffic violation, Collins said.
Why not just ship them off to Guantanamo straight away? I mean, that's how fucking grateful they are, right?
"I expect a small percent to be approved for exemption. The cases are so varied. You've got medical. You've got financial hardship. You've got sole caretaker for children or parents."
Well, it's good to know the "family values" crowd still values families. Or something. But, hey, at least we can kill two birds with one stone: send those fucking welfare mothers to a place where they can actually do some good for a change, and let their kids starve to death so as we won't have to worry about them anymore. Works for me!
Posted by Eddie Tews at September 29, 2004 12:09 PM
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