War in Iraq, Escalation forces BushCo to Recruit Convicts

[marmar]

from AlterNet:


Escalation Forces Bush to Resort to Recruiting Convicts
By Robin Morgan, Women's Media Center. Posted January 22, 2007.

Escalating the war in Iraq means the military will grant more "moral waivers" -- permitting recruits with criminal records and emotional problems who would otherwise be unfit to serve.

Brace yourself. Bush's Iraq escalation, euphemized as "surge," sends just over 20,000 more troops into that bottomless pit, and flirts with an invasion of Iran. But because Iraq has depleted our armed forces -- and recruitment levels plummet as our population wises up -- Bush's plan requires still more: the entire Army active-duty force must swell to 547,000 over the next five years (an increase of 39,000), and the Marine Corps grow by 23,000 (to 202,000).

Constitutionally, Congress must approve or disapprove the expansion -- but one never knows whether this particular executive branch recognizes that the legislative (or judicial) branches exist.

Meanwhile, Bush simply changes the rules to suit his mad plans, raising the enlistment age to 42, and removing the cumulative limit -- 24 months active duty in any five-year period -- for National Guard Reserve units.

Furthermore, the military will now mobilize units, not individuals, so soldiers who've completed their duty tours, but, perhaps, transferred to a new unit, will still be eligible. Never mind how destructive this is to "family values" or a "sound economy."

Then there's the still-astonishing "moral waiver" -- employed to produce more cannon fodder. In 2005, already desperate for fresh recruits, the Army started increasing, by nearly half, the rate at which it grants what it terms "moral waivers," permitting recruits with criminal records, emotional problems, and weak educational backgrounds to serve.

Afterward, if these recruits survive, they'll be called heroes and released back into society. One returned hero, who credited the military with having "properly trained and hardened me," was Timothy McVeigh. According to the Pentagon, waivers in 2001 totaled 7,640, increasing to 11,018 in 2005. ......(more)

The rest of the piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/46922/

[fooj]

1. WTF?

"Moral waiver"...

:grr:

[MissWaverly]

2. this is ridiculous

after all the hype and all Jeb Bush's army down in Florida purging the voting rolls of
felons and now his brother, Commander in Chief is recruiting them to serve in
Iraq, they CAN't vote but they CAN go and risk their lives for their country. Am I missing
something here?

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. In a season of scary news . . .

. . . that has got to be right up there towards the top.

This NeoCon madness has got to be stopped. Now.

[Sanity Claws]

4. How awful!

We'll just get more Abu Graibs and other abominations.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

7. Yes.

I suppose it's much easier to brainwash someone with an IQ of 75 to be brutal, than a young person with an education.

And who knows how many others they've recruited that have already been in jail for violent crimes.

In six years, they've turned us into a nation of thugs and torturers.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Hopefully, he's planning for his own future. Trading in an orange jump suit

for a snappy officers uniform. Complete with a ribbon for "Moral Wavering".

[Jackpine Radical]

6. They've been recruiting felons for some time now.

Mostly for Cabinet positions, of course. Apparently it's only the lower echelons that require actual integrity.

[Poiuyt]

8. Does this remind anyone of The Dirty Dozen?

[MzNov]

9. I'm waiting for these neocon bastards to start emptying the prisions...

if they haven't been doing so already. By the time what they do hits the "news", they've been doing the deed for a while already!

:mad: