Gang Members Joining the Military

[erpowers]

It was just reported on the local news that gang members are joining the military in order to learn gun, military, and war tactics. It seems that some of these gang members intend to learn military tactics in order to use them on the streets in their gangs. They can use the war tactics in order to attack rival gangs.

[xultar]

1. I LOVE IT. I heard this a few weeks ago too. They were finding

Chicago Gang signs painted in Iraq.

Wait till the cops stateside get a load of these felas when they roll back into town.

Another thing to thank Bush for kids. Give him a round of applause.

[Asgaya Dihi]

2. Yeah, there too

They've been getting themselves sent to prison and treating it like a college for years, in some places that's where you meet the real names and it's a badge of sorts. Adding this to their arsenal isn't going to make the streets any safer.

An article you might be interested in on the subject, the Army doesn't "see significant trend", but I wouldn't ignore it.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gangs01.html

[spindrifter]

3. Oh, I thought

learning to use gun, military and war tactics was why everyone who goes into the military chose that option. Plus, there is a paycheck and training. How silly of me to think that the military was a big "melting pot."

As the guy in the link says, "they're fighting for America. Gotta hand them that." Unlike some youth we know of and write about on a frequent basis.

[Aviation Pro]

4. Been happening for years....

...not anything new.

[Asgaya Dihi]

5. Might be right

From what I've read they are just starting to look into it so it might be nothing, but some people in the system are worried about it. From the article I posted a link to above a Scott Barfield, Defense Department gang detective at Fort Lewis, claims to have identified and interviewed about 320 gang members and only two of them wanted to leave their gangs.

It's normal for them to go to the military for training and to look for a better life, a way out of gangs. But to just get sent to Iraq and trained in urban combat then return to their gangs, that one might be new or on the rise. Worth looking into.

[Aviation Pro]

6. Here's a scary thought:

...as domestic gangs continue to flourish and grow, pretty soon their circles of influence are going to overlap with al-Qaeda's. This will end up being an unholy alliance and will be a direct result of Asshole's policies.

[Toots]

8. Padilla was in a Chicago gang and they grabbed him off the streets.

An Amercan who has no rights because one man, Bush*, says he has none. What was that oath he took again? something about Protecting the US Constitution. :shrug: No one seems to care and that is the really sad part.

[Toots]

7. Hell's Angels told Nixon they would go to Vietnam as a group and win the w

They offered their "expertice" and told Nixon they would go to Vietnnam as a unit and win the war for him. Made all the headlines of the day...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

11. In the letter they sent Nixon, they offered to fight as "gorillas".

That's not a joke.

[Nikia]

9. I thought that the idea of military was to brainwash discipline and unity

Of course that doesn't always work. Military members have less rights than normal civilians. If members are engaged in criminal activity, their membership in the military makes it easier for them to be arrested and held in custody.

[tjwash]

10. Yeah, and?

This is something new?

Christ, in the sixties during the Vietnam war, if you were convicted of a crime, you had a choice of either doing your time in prison, or doing a hitch in the Marines or the Army. Hell, on the way to your first day of boot camp, you would ride on the bus with a guy sitting next to you that was in handcuffs, and after he got off the bus, and their paperwork was signed over, off came the cuffs, and he was one of you now.

Stories like that(which it would be nice to have a link for BTW), that get ran on local news shows serve one purpose, and one purpose only; to whip people up into a racist fervor. When one say's "gang member", for all intents and purposes, you might as well have said "black kid from the inner city." It's synonymous news-speak, and is nothing more than the RW media fear-mongering. If the Arabs are not scaring us any more, they just go back to letting the fear of black people attempt to scare us.

And on that same note, any future outrage over all of this going to come from where do you think? Most likely from the same well-to-do white middle class people who support the war, yet refuse to join. You didn't actually think that the cream of American society gets sent over to get shot at 8000 miles away from home do you?

So just keep all of that in mind.