NYT article on army recruiters' tribulations-- parents beware

[Muddy Waters Guitar]

Take a look at the latest Iraq-induced mess--
http://tinyurl.com/5hgvz
("For recruiters, a hard toll from a hard sell")

Unsurprisingly, Iraq has severely deterred new potential recruits from joining the army, which means that the military is gradually being ruined-- just as in Vietnam days-- since recruiters can't meet targets. So now, army higher-ups are holding recruiters' feet to the fire to sign up whoever they can corral, humiliating and brutally punishing recruiters for missing targets, which in turn pressures recruiters to invent some of their own pressure tactics ("truth is optional") to help bring in fresh blood. Recruiters who fail are trashed as being unprofessional and demoted (no mention of the fact that they're doing their jobs in the midst of the most unpopular war since that nasty little tiff in Indochina).

What really shocked me about the article is that the names of all high school kids are made available to recruiters via the No Child Left Behind Act. What is this, backdoor Selective Service registration? If you're a parent, in any case, or know a parent who's been hearing the siren song, beware and *make sure they read the fine print before signing on the dotted line*.

There was a pretty good article in Harper's Magazine last month on deserters and the hell they have to endure (since the services in Iraq are so desperate for boots on the ground), but reading this in NYT, and seeing how easily false promises must be coming the way of naive young recruits, one can understand why the AWOL rate's being hitting such record highs. BTW if you are deserting (or if we all wind up potentially in the crosshairs due to a military draft), *DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN FLEE TO CANADA!* This isn't like the 70s-- Canada's terrified that Bush might be crazy enough to make a move against them, and they're not allowing deserters or draft-evaders (or conscientious objectors) from the USA into Canada anymore. In fact, Bush has pretty much the entire Anglophone world in his back pocket these days (including his poodle Tony Blair), so if you're looking to escape this seeming involuntary servitude, you'll have to look outside the English-speaking world. Continental Europe is probably the best bet for a refuge.