Saturday, February 12, 2005
To continue the military theme
Here are three notable news items:
1. The Pentagon is considering a draft, and is especially interested in one that would target people with needed skills (can you say, "when they came for my neighbor the doctor, I said nothing...."). But declining recruitment, and a short-sighted willingness to threaten current reservists with compulsory lifetime service may leave no options other than a whole-sale draft, heavy dependence on mercenaries, or a roll-back in US military operations. As always with the Bushies, the only palatable choice is not up for discussion.
2. More, very detailed, allegations of torture from an Australian Muslim picked up in Pakistan in 2001 and detained in Egypt and Guantamo under US orders ever since. I don't know what this guy has done or not done, but we have released him, so there must be slim to no evidence of wrong-doing. When you hear that this guy has kids whom we told him he'd never see again, that hurts. The DoD says there is "no evidence" of torture, which is "odd" since this guy has bruises and scars, which would be a start. We've really sold our souls for these monsters. We aren't above the law, any more than Saddam or Osama.
3. Discharges for gay members of the military are way down. This has several obvious interpretations and implications that should surprise no one. My favorite is that it appears allegations that gays are harmful to the military are deemed false by, well, the military, which tends to keep them in time of war (you know, the time that matters) and dump them afterwards.
1. The Pentagon is considering a draft, and is especially interested in one that would target people with needed skills (can you say, "when they came for my neighbor the doctor, I said nothing...."). But declining recruitment, and a short-sighted willingness to threaten current reservists with compulsory lifetime service may leave no options other than a whole-sale draft, heavy dependence on mercenaries, or a roll-back in US military operations. As always with the Bushies, the only palatable choice is not up for discussion.
2. More, very detailed, allegations of torture from an Australian Muslim picked up in Pakistan in 2001 and detained in Egypt and Guantamo under US orders ever since. I don't know what this guy has done or not done, but we have released him, so there must be slim to no evidence of wrong-doing. When you hear that this guy has kids whom we told him he'd never see again, that hurts. The DoD says there is "no evidence" of torture, which is "odd" since this guy has bruises and scars, which would be a start. We've really sold our souls for these monsters. We aren't above the law, any more than Saddam or Osama.
3. Discharges for gay members of the military are way down. This has several obvious interpretations and implications that should surprise no one. My favorite is that it appears allegations that gays are harmful to the military are deemed false by, well, the military, which tends to keep them in time of war (you know, the time that matters) and dump them afterwards.
