Reply #30: Brave Man.....

[leftchick]

~snip~


As a recruiter with the American military, Massey began to question the methods used by the Marines which targeted young people from economically depresses areas.

"I'm not going to say that the Marine Corps is all flat-out lies, but it is very misleading the way we enlist recruits. A lot of the kids joining the military are from the 'barrios' and 'hoods,' or the poor parts -so they're sweeping them up."

Massey believes that due to the economic situation in the U.S. there exists what can be called an 'economic draft' of young Americans into the military.

"A large percentage of the so-called growth in this country is associated with the military. The bottom line is, for the Halliburtons and Enrons war is good, but for the poor and for all of the soldiers coming home, especially the ones coming home wounded, there's not much of a future. But for a lot of the kids getting ready to graduate high-school, the military is looking pretty good because their families have no money to send them to college."

Massey's disillusionment with the war in Iraq came to head when he saw the army the U.S. military faced. The world's strongest military carrying the most technologically advanced weapons up against the military of a country devastated by a decade of sanctions.

Massey says, "There wasn't a whole lot of direct fighting to speak of. There were some firefights but it wasn't like major combat action…They had no artillery; they had no air support. They were so weakened by all the sanctions. All of their equipment was in very bad shape. Most of their hardware was left over from the war against Iran. The first Gulf War just devastated them. I don't think they had the will or the opportunity to fight."