May 11th / 13th, 2007
"Scholastic Armitude Test"
Not long ago I watched an episode of HDNet News in which the focus was on
U.S. Army recruiting. I was moved by the pleas from mothers to their teenage
sons not to enlist. And I was disturbed by the naivety of the boys who had
no idea what they were getting into.
These days, the Army is quite aggressive about taking advantage of that
naivety. It spends $100 million dollars each year to sponsor sporting events
and millions more in advertising. The Army also employs 7,500 recruiters who
are expected to achieve a quota of as many as 6,000 new soldiers each month.
But with quotas come pressure, and some recruiters have responded by
bending the rules. In mid 2005, two recruiters in Colorado were suspended for a
myriad of charges, including: telling boys how to beat a drug test;
encouraging high school drop-outs to enlist; and even advising them on how to
obtain a fake diploma.
And while rogue recruiters are the exception and not the rule, even those
who go by the book are finding themselves embroiled in an on-going controversy
involving activity on high school and college campuses. Educators and
students alike are challenging the Army’s right to recruit on school property.
The government, meanwhile, asserts that so long as schools accept federal
funding, they must allow recruiters to appear on campus. No matter who wins that
battle, the fact remains that the number of high school drop-outs to enlist
has doubled in recent years, and that brings me back to the agony of mothers
and the naivety of their sons.
I can identify with these impressionable youth. Over thirty years ago my
friends and I watched as our draft lottery numbers were called, and none of us
ran away to Canada to escape service. Fortunately, Nixon de-escalated troop
deployments shortly thereafter, and I was not forced to spend my days wading
in rice paddies. I was also spared from returning home in a body bag. I
had no idea at the time that America’s involvement in Viet Nam was unjustified
and the lives lost unnecessary. I was naïve. The smart folks were the hippie
protestors, who were, at first, labeled as radical and unpatriotic, that is
until Walter Cronkite came around to their way of thinking and called for an
end to the conflict. Today, the Iraq war is no less ill-advised, and the
mounting casualties no less tragic. Today there is no draft, so recruiters
work hard to “sell” Army life. Promotional literature promises new recruits
will “enjoy travel”, and also makes a big deal out of free medical care.
What it doesn’t say is that the travel is to Iraq, and the medical care is
from Walter Reed. Understandably then, educators who oppose the presence of
Army recruiters on school grounds do so largely because students are not being
exposed to both sides of the issue. They are not getting the entire story
before signing on the dotted line.
That’s why I have developed a test which all potential recruits should take
before joining the Army. It is called the “Schloastic Armitude Test”. Here
are some of the questions on my version of the “SAT”:
- Do you know that nearly all of the 9/11 terrorists hailed from
Saudi Arabia and not from Iraq?
- Do you know that Saudi Arabian businesses own 7% of the entire
U.S. Economy?
- Do you know that the Bush family has ties to some of those Saudi
businesses?
- Do you know that President Bush lied about Sadam Husein having
Weapons of Mass Destruction?
- Do you know that Vice President Cheney’s former company has made
billions of dollars in profit from the Iraq War?
- Do you know that over 3,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq
?
- Do you know that the U.S. is responsible for the deaths of over
100,000 innocent Iraqi women and children?
- Do you know that if you enlist, you will likely be sent to fight
in Iraq?
A young man who answers “No” to any of these questions, will then be asked
if he still wants to enlist? If he answers “Yes”, he will then be evaluated
by a team of mental health professionals to determine if he is crazy or just
recklessly brave. If determined to be the latter, he will be allowed to
enlist.
Am I anti-military? To the contrary. I am pro military, but I do not want
young men and women sacrificed for Bush and Cheney’s warped sense of
patriotism and greed-driven national defense.
The Army pledge demands a promise to “never quit”. But that credo should
not apply absolutely, especially in a vacuum of misinformation.
Hopefully, Nancy Pelosi and company will have the troops home soon. Until
then, I am asking for help from every mother whose teenage son wants to
enlist. Make your son take my Scholastic Armitude Test. Make him use his brain.
And if he still wants to join, then make him wait until he graduates, and
after we are out of Iraq.
Keeping the peace in a country that we senselessly destroyed is not a
justifiable mission for which even one more American life should be sacrificed.
George Bush doesn’t care when the troops come home. American mothers do.
Bush wants to put our young men to the test. So do I – the Scholastic
Armitude test. His test causes deaths. Mine might prevent them.
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