Recruits say draft isn’t needed

[NVMojo]

Well, I can't find much fault in a young person who supports the war in Iraq and is willing to go over there and pay the price. Godspeed to them ....


Volunteers see little reason to bring back conscription

“It has the most excitement,” said Wilde, quickly listing some of his reasons for wanting to become a Marine. “It’s dangerous.”

Wilde, 21, wasn’t talking about push-ups. Instead, Wilde referred to the war in Iraq and the possibility that he soon could be in it.

“I understand,” Wilde said.

So, apparently, does Golightly, a 19-year-old graduate of Hug High School in Reno.

“Politically, I’m for this war,” Golightly said. “I should be willing to fight it.”

More ....

http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2004/10/24/83564.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=local_news

[Tiberius]

1. Sure.

Check back with me after you've lost a limb, and/or in a year.

[Skittles]

5. they don't have a clue

they get their ideas from video games - I knew guys like that who went to Viet Nam (their ideas came from sanitized war movies); they have the hardest time adjusting back.

[NVMojo]

7. yeah, I remember guys like that too. Met a few of them here..

from this generation recently. Couldn't make a dent in their perception of this "war" of Bush's. I got to the point of trying to mentally deal with it by telling myself "live and let live." What else can you do to get through such "gung ho" mentality? These kids really believe the President's bullshit.

[ClintonTyree]

14. Very true.................

they play the video games (supplied by the Army no less) and everything is nice and sanitized, you are awarded with more "lives" as you get better at the game. In Iraq, you only get ONE life. There are no "do-overs". You're out fighting in blinding sand storms, heat that could melt a Jeep and the enemy is firing REAL bullets and rockets. You're not in your parent's basement anymore.
I'm glad that there are young folks ready to protect our country, but this is NOT that case. You're protecting Capitalism for greedy old men who don't give a shit if you live or die, just keep those oil pipelines protected.
Their opinions will change. Right now they're idealistic dilettantes, soon they'll be targets. An amazing epiphany will change them into realists in a nanosecond. And they'll be stuck in a sand dune, unable to "go upstairs and go to bed".

[MADem]

23. And those fucking MITES and sand fleas....

...if an RPG or IED doesn't getcha, those fleas will drive you nuts. In GW1 a lot of guys wore FLEA collars, like dogs.

[samtob]

42. I would agree, but we do have very graphic

bloody war movies now days.


Saving Private Ryan
We were Soldiers (something like that with Mel Gibson)
Blackhawk Down
Braveheart
etc....

[RamboLiberal]

48. But these kids have been raised on graphic movies and video games

And what is sad, I think some of them will actually enjoy the war in Iraq. Video games brought to life. I think some in F911 were enjoying it with their headphones of rap and heavy metal pounding in their heads as they blasted Iraqis.

Sadly though most I believe who now are so full of false bravado and gung ho are going to come back very different. And I wonder how many will come back and have to use drugs, booze, etc., to control their pain and help dull them to the demons. Will we be seeing the homeless Bush War vets a decade or two in the future?

[saigon68]

33. Wait til the VA turns down their PTSD Claim and they are Homeless

You'll hear them squeal then---

Used up---thrown away

If these FOOLS think Cheney and the CHIMPANZEE will help them with anything other than a transfer tube and 9 (6 pall bearers, 2 Road guards and 1 to count cadence) they are crazy.

The Rag-heads will shoot back children---it Isn't X-BOX.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. “Politically, I’m for this war,” “I should be willing to fight it.”

Well, I gotta respect him for that. Would that more of the repuke chickenhawks adopt that attitude.

[Divine Discontent]

3. but....

as we saw in f-911, those young brave men see the needlessness of being there, and the ignorance of those in charge, and their needs not being met from supplies, to troop levels.

thank GOD my brother is back... hopefully to stay. his group that went is mostly pro Kerry


for a good laugh click image - :)

[Hello_Kitty]

12. But he's not there yet and has drank too much koolaid

I feel sorry for him, I really do but I still respect him far more than I respect those who tout *'s ideology with no intention of backing it up by going over there. They are cowards.

[punpirate]

4. It's worth noting that...

... none of the recruits quoted in the article had actually begun formal enlistment. None had even completed basic training, let alone be assigned to Iraq, to which most will be assigned eventually.

Remember names and ask them what they think sixteen months from now.

The answers will be quite different from the silliness they're spouting now.

[Journeyman]

15. Every war has its 90 day soldiers. . .

those who march to battle firm in the belief it will all end victoriously in 90 days or less, 6 months at the outside. These guys are just getting a little later start. Can't quite blame 'em, you know. They've been lied to more and more consistently than their previous war counterparts.

Vaya con Dios, our young brave soldiers. May you return one day soon to tell us the truths you've learned.

[punpirate]

16. These young people...

... haven't even started yet.

They don't know. They will, though, eventually, sadly.

[luaneryder]

21. Reporter Cox should make a point

of catching up with these kids after they return, if they return. Right now they don't have a clue as to what they've signed up for. They haven't even begun Basic for cryin out loud and I saw grown men and women reduced to weeping babies just in the first couple of weeks. They're in the innocent zone right now, in three months I'd like to hear from them again.

[shanti]

29. they're young and stupid

a killing combination

[Was_Immer]

6. Innocence is bliss

Experience will teach them otherwise

[NVMojo]

9. yep, that is all true ...a few months over there and their letters will be

in Volume 2 of Michael Moore's book on letters from soldiers ....calling Bush a "lying mother f*cker." If they are still alive...

[OutsourceBush]

8. Barinwashing works, must be sons of socker moms

[PassingFair]

31. Hey, I resemble that remark!

I'm a soccer mom, and we cannot be stereotyped like that, if you please. My kids know that war is hell.
Blame the moms who fill their kids heads with dreams of "glory", in this world, or the "next". My kids are realists who live with their eyes wide open.

[lastliberalintexas]

32. Well, if we're going to stereotype,

I'd say it's more *likely* that their fathers or other male figures helped perpetuate the macho soldier fantasy. But you never really know. :shrug:

[ElectroPrincess]

37. And too many Action Flicks they believe as reality

I love watching Steven Segal action movies ... the more B rated the better. However, it's not reality - the bad guys don't follow protocol and/or wait in line to attack you. Unfortunately many young people haven't lived in dangerous neighborhoods. They still believe in this hero crap. It's a fantasy. Rich old bloated (mostly) white men sent the poor off to fight and die their war for profit adventures.

Class war? You bet-ya ;).

[leftchick]

10. wait till they see their first dead body....

bloated and stinking in the heat. This ain't no video game son....

[Qanisqineq]

11. wait until they've been there

then they can tell us what a noble cause it is and how they are protecting our freedoms and bringing freedom to the Iraqi people. Or, I could save them the trouble and let them talk to a soldier that's been there. I'm sure my husband would love to tell them how fucking brainwashed they are.

[truthisfreedom]

13. holly golightly, Iraq is no breakfast at tiffany's. super-soakers are no

introduction to war. but to the kids who are willing to make this sacrifice, thank you for being there in the event that we are in a LEGITIMATE conflict in the near future.

[NNN0LHI]

17. Quick. Send these guys to Falluja before they change their minds n/t

[Boomer]

18. One advantage of the draft....

...is that it forces EVERYONE in the society to ask themselves if this is a war worth dying for, if it's worth the life of their son or daughter.

It's a lot easier to support a war that doesn't cost you anything. Let the poor sob in the ghetto fight it, then if it turns out the war wasn't such a good idea, oh well.

So, much as I hate the war, I do support the draft. Amazing how well it focuses the mind on the issues. If there had still been a draft, perhaps the U.S. people would have insisted that we let the U.N. inspectors keep doing their job.

[JusticeForAll]

28. GREAT POINT

Sure blows holes in that whole pre-emptive strike doctrine.

[ElectroPrincess]

38. Oh no, think again ...

The sons and daughters of the rich will NEVER be drafted. I'm old enough to remember Vietnam. It only snags us poor bastards in the middle and working classes.

Makes me think of the old tune ... what EXACTLY are we fighting for?

[Boomer]

50. It's not the rich I'm thinking of

>> The sons and daughters of the rich will NEVER be drafted. <<

The rich will always be in favor of wars that bolster the military/industrial complex and their children will always get a free ride through life. But the children of the vast Middle Class will be drafted -- and this is the demographic that needs the wake up call. They have the numbers to move polls and votes.

[JSJ]

19. volunteers fear intelligence and hearts of draftees

It's their war, now- any interlopers will steal their thunder. Creeps.

[truthisfreedom]

20. that sounds harsh. draftees would be much less gung-ho about it. it's

hard to imagine a volunteer dreaming about a desk job in the ARMY.

[MADem]

22. When things got bad in the Nam

...and the USMC could not find recruits, they would line them up at the Armed Forces Entrance and Examining Station (AFEES--they are now called MEPS-Military Entrance Processing Station, but it is the same thing) and they would make them count off--ONE, TWO, THREE, MARINE. The fourth poor bastard would be shipped off to the USMC.

This happened to a lot of poor bastards...drafted into the Army, ended up in the USMC.

If Kerry does not assume the presidency, it will happen again.

[0007]

24. Joining the Army is better than working in a greasy Fast Food

joint and taking shit from an idiot for $5.15 an hour.

Now we know why the minimum wage has never been increased, 'eh? Teaching the young to hate and how to love it!

"I support our troops" bring 'em HOME!!

[Pump Man]

25. I think fast food job safer. Not much arm robbery. vote http://www.msnbc.

Most went in service to learn a trade.

[0007]

26. Fast food joints are robbed frequently and it would be easier

to learn a trade if the minimum wage were a little higher.

The service is a piss poor place for learning a trade.

[Pump Man]

27. I AGREE vote http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6092749

when you young you beleive anything Especially when you
looking for a way out the house

[MacDo]

30. Don't really agree

with what they are saying, but still proud they are volunteering instead of being forced to go.

[VegasWolf]

34. Yeah, this is what my best friend from high school said back

in the Vietnam days. We were sitting drinking coffee and
he looks at me and say's "I want to go and kill some gooks!".
I said "What!", flabbergasted that someone you thought you
had known so well could come up with a remark like that. He
said "yes, that's what I'm going to do.". He did too, and
four years later he came back totally insane. He has lived
with his parents ever since, since he can't function in society.
His parents have just died and he has been turned out into the streets. Video game my ass!

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[w4rma]

35. I have the utmost respect for Mr. Golightly. Very few of the folks who

are supporting this death and destruction are willing to actually carry it out themselves.

[Blue_Tires]

36. jesus fucking christ

this ISN'T counter-stike or Halo2 or some other online shooter...these are REAL bullets and REAL deaths...there's no reset, you can't instantly restore yourself to full health with a medpak, and there's NO respawn!!!

[denverbill]

39. If they change their minds after being there, they are traitors.

I hope they all remember that.

After all, the people who actually fought in Vietnam and came back and protested against the war are now called traitors by the right.

However, I will give them kudos for backing their words with actions. You won't see the sons and daughters of any high-ranking war-party member going to Iraq.

[The_Casual_Observer]

40. These are "people" who want to go and "legally" kill people

in Iraq for an illegal immoral cause. They are for shit and will be a welcome addition to the stink pile of rotten corpses.

[samtob]

43. Well at least we know

your true opinion of the military personel now.

[Voltaire99]

46. Howard Zinn was such a person once...

...when he flew bombing missions for the US Airforce. And today he is one of the world's most eloquent spokesmen for peace.

And he will tell you, as he said here not long ago in a speech, that he feels compassion for these soldiers in Iraq whom you describe, mercilessly, as "shit." I understand the anger; but we must remember whose lies molded these young men into puppets of murder.

[JSJ]

52. fuck that!

[Voltaire99]

53. LOL

Yes, I would stay away from trying to understand if I had your point of view, too.

[JSJ]

51. perfectly said- thanks

[SoCalDem]

41. Sadly, lots of young people are "excitement junkies"

But lots of things can be "exciting"..not all are good..

This group of youngsters grew up with shoot-em-up video games..the will soon learn that in video games, the one playing it doesn;t "really" die..in real life, they do

[NVMojo]

44. well, there was this story my son told me...

when one of our local boys came back from Iraq. Full of bravado, talking about how they raided an old man's house one night and scared him so bad, he had a heart attack and died in front of the Marines. Kid thought it was really funny to brag about it but then did everything he could to keep from being deployed back there when his number showed up again recently.

[Voltaire99]

47. That soldier should get treatment.

He should be treated before he harms another person. Unfortunately, he is more likely to be admired and respected by society for having "liberated" Iraq.

Perhaps, like a Korean vet of my acquaintance, one late night in bed he will find himself with his hands around his wife's neck, dreaming that he is strangling a North Korean.

[Voltaire99]

45. Nothing like dying for your country!!!

Yes, the Old Men have deceived them with an Older Lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

But deception also requires eager young fools. It's the job of the culture to control the liars and reduce the number of fools; let's get to work on that, shall we?

[VegasWolf]

49. Only thing better is to die for is your country's VP retirement benefits

at Halliburton.

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional