Monday, July 14, 2008

Moral waivers ...

Or, Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel. Via Avedon, the Army is taking anyone they can get:

...

A yearlong examination of military and civilian records by The Sacramento Bee involving hundreds of troops who entered the services since the Iraq war began identified 120 cases of people whose backgrounds should have raised the suspicions of military recruiters, including felony convitions and serious drug, alcohol or mental health problems.

Of those, 70 later were involved in controversial or criminal incidents in Iraq.

...

The 70 were among the tens of thousands of military personnel recruited or retained as the armed services, entering the sixth year of the Iraq war, lowered educational, age and moral standards and granted a growing number of waivers to applicants whose backgrounds previously would have barred them from serving.

...


That's it. Take violent, anti-social offenders, hand them a rifle, and tell 'em it's okay to kill brown folks. And we wonder when shit like Abu Graib happens, or when they come home and commit violent crimes against American citizens.

These clowns shouldn't be allowed to possess a BB gun, let alone be put in a war zone, and is a testament to how badly the situation in Iraq has crippled our military. The latest line from the White House this weekend is that there will be "a drawdown" of troops from Iraq, but that's only to send them to Afghanistan because we don't have the reserves to fill in the gaps (though Afghanistan was treated like the red-headed step-child from Day One) our half-assed commitment created.

Cdr. Huber:

... The Bush spin machine was quick to declare that the administration is considering increasing the pace of the pullout from Iraq (as if they were actually considering "pulling out" in the first place), not as a reaction to Maliki's invitation to pack sand, or because the force is collapsing from the deployment tempo, but because the extra troops are needed in Afghanistan.

...


The real moral waiver came when the U.S. Congress gave these assholes carte blanche to start this war and continue to fund it into its sixth year. Unfortunately, the way things are going, any grip we get on Morality is a long time coming. As long as insane foreign policy is considered mainstream, we will continue to field a military made up of convicts, gang bangers, and low lifes. Atrocities will continue and American credibility will continue to circle the bowl.

John McCain wants to stay in Iraq forever? Answer me this. Where is he gonna get the troops? Or is he just gonna empty out the prisons?

Cross-posted at the Brain.

5 comments:

Alex Pendragon said...

This is just one more symptom of a bankrupt policy. At this rate we are going to be enlisting ex-Russian Spetsnaz to fill out our special forces. Wouldn't THAT be a hoot?

deuddersun said...

Probably already have Michael, in Blackwater.

d.

Fixer said...

... in Blackwater.

South Africans out of work after apartheid went away, most certainly.

deuddersun said...

Should things ever get ugly here, the Constitution prohibits the use of American Armed Forces acting on American soil against American citizens. It has always been a "civil" matter, for civilian authrities, including the use of the Ntional Guard.

But there is nothing in the Constitution that I am aware of that prohibits the use of "private contractors" to "protect"
government interests and anyone who thinks Blackwater is staffed only by loyal Americans had better think again.

Imagine that. Foreign mercs roaming our streets just like they do in Iraq.

Oh, wait. Katrina. Blackwater. Security. Right. At least I think those guys were Americans.

The thought of foreign mercs patroling NYC or Philly to keep the peace would definately get this old jarhead back on the firing line.

Get me?

d.

Fixer said...

... foreign mercs patroling NYC or Philly ...

Open season, no limit.