MSI,
I agree that there's a lot of good reasons for universal service. I'm growing increasingly concerned about a military that appears to be growing ever more distant from the population at large.
The methodology of Parris Island, and all the other boot camps for the other services can be viewed as brainwashing and propaganda operation of the most effective sort. I'll grant that some of the values of discipline, hierarchical orderliness, a sense of honor and duty to country are all admirable. However, I believe that there is an unreported undercurrent of attitudes that get spread that are quite dangerous. In the first place, foreigners in general, and foreign civilians in particular are regarded with a great disdain. And then there's the way that the military views the U.S. citizen. Hang on to your flak jacket, amigo, this isn't pretty........
I discovered this first hand, in late September, when I chose to write to an enlisted man who maintained a website devoted to service personnel from Diego Garcia. When I suggested that 9/11 could be seen as "blowback" for U.S. and British arrogance in the example of Diego Garcia (where the local indigenous population was rudely relocated to the Moluccas and left to fend for themselves in a very hostile setting) I was resoundingly scolded as a traitor the U.S. and in waves of obscenity and vulgarity told to get my a__ out of the country or they would be coming to get me.
And all that for simply pointing out the truth that we were actively engaged in imperialism and weren't treating indigenous populations fairly.
It was sure an eye opener for me to feel the seething resentment that I would dare to question our imperial regime and our uncaring and patently unfair domination and subjugation of weaker societies. We are bullies. That is the nature of an out-of-control military.
So, did you listen to the Koughboy DicKtator's West Point speech today? He was saying we need to start killing A-rabs on a presumptive basis. No, we shouldn't wait for them to act. If we merely suspect some slope-nose is a damn terrorist, we need to blow 'em away before they get off the prayer rug. I can't believe we have a President who would so blatantly flaunt all standards of human decency, human rights and settled international law. The guy is out of control.
But, he didn't mention his pal Osama. You gotta wonder which Bin Laden mansion in Saudi that George Herbert Walker and Osama get together in to plot swell schemes so that they can both make some money on the reconstruction of what the U.S. Air Force conveniently destroys so that re-construction can show a better profit. Think Halliburton (Brown & Root), think Carlyle, think Bin Laden Construction, think DynCorp.
Do you know DynCorp? Fine shop. Mercenaries and contractors to the DOW***- Department of War in theatres across the globe. Kosovo? Columbia?... got it covered.
These guys make Sandhill International and Executive Outcomes look like two-bit summer stock actors.
Your concept of universal service is quite quixotic, I'm afraid. The trend is clearly toward corporatized mercenary armies.
Soldiering on, Ray
***There's a new subsection of the OSI that isn't getting much press. You do recall the OSI, right? The Office of Strategic Influence that doesn't exist in spite of the fact that everyone working for it is still on the payroll?
Well, I've just discovered a new cell within this terrorist organization. DOW JONES News Retrieval. Heard of them?
Department of War Joint Operating Neuro-net Electronic Surveillance News Retrieval.
It's part of that secret budget black-ops magic that Ashcroft didn't pass last Sept. 10th.
Very hush-hush, and on the QT. |
