Anti-Recruitment or Anti-Draft? (was Re: [Marxism] Re: Does anybody feel a draft? I don't)

["Carlos A. Rivera" <cerejota@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "David McDonald" <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> Well, I agree that the civilian leaders are still opposed to the draft,
> but
> it seems to me that the various comments I mentioned in my past post, all
> coming from senior military personnel, do point to a bit of an offensive
> on
> their part for something. If the standdown was intended to convey
> something
> to the recruiters themselves in the way of new information, changes in
> procedures, or whatever, perhaps Carlos can point that out to us or cite
> the
> changes urged in General Rochelle's press conference. I couldn't find them
> myself. Army command guys don't just go around  spreading gloom and
> predicting doom, in my experience, unless there is some reason.

As I mentioned, this has to do more with retention than recruitment. They
are trying to get more power to "stop loss", what I called "the internal
draft". It also probably has more to do with a budgetary fight, where Gen.
Rochelle is figthing for more resources for his outfit, than a political
calculation geared towards draft buzz.

Now, even in peacetime and with high recruitment, senior military personnel
will bitch and whine about their lack of manpower, their needs for more
divisions and brigades, their need for more exposure to high schoolers, and
the re-installation of the draft, including all the budgetary and political
desicions those things entail. Armies are hungry things, and they will
always want more.

So ironically, the least reliable of the sources becomes a senior military
officer in a press conference.

If you look at the hard numbers, it shows that in the FY 2003-2004, when in
May of 2003 we had the same "recruitment drop" buzz, recruitment goals for
ALL wings were met and slightly exceeded. Only in retention you see a
problem, where everyone met their goal except the Army and the NG/Reserve.
And they missed it by very little.

Now, a year later, things might be different, but I don't see it coming.
Lets wait until FY 2004-2005 closes and then we will know if Gen. Rochelle
was full of hot air or he was actually creating the space for the draft.

And of course, there many senior military personnel who don't want a draft,
because they feel it would create further demoralization of troops and less
predictability in terms of quality of recruits.

> The point I would like to emphasize is the actual
> movement against recruiters in schools that is occurring today. It is
> quite
> serious and it represents genuine molecular movement among the youth.
> Carlos
> may choose to pooh-pooh their efforts and the efficacy thereof, but I do
> not.

I have no idea where you get this!

I never ever mentioned anything about anti-recruitment efforts. I mentioned
something about the tactical viability of using "stop the draft" as a slogan
TODAY, based upon analysis of the current political situation. Anything else
is a figment of your, apparently livid, imagination. Or maybe windmills are
giants in your world, after reading too much books...

I have spent most my political life involved directly with the opposition of
military recruitment efforts. I was helping, with my comrades, people go
AWOL in the mid-90s, when all of you freaking liberals who dare call
yourselves "socialists" had forgotten all about the "economic draft", or
worse, when y'all where cheering Clinton for his humanitarian efforts in
Somalia and the former-Yugoslavia, we were figthing hand-to-hand against
recruiters in high schools and colleges. We were doing sit-ins in
recruitment centers. We were shutting down the ROTC. We were opposing the
Solomon ammendment, and effectively blocked its defacto implementation. We
where chasing ROTC cadets who dared to come in uniform out of university
campuses.

Hell, we freaking kicked out the US Navy out of their largest non-US
Atlantic Fleet base.

I had to drop out of college in a large extent because of my anti-ROTC and
anti-military activities. Death threats, knifefigths, guns pulled out, cars
trying to run you over, tear gas, baton charges, the works.

Even got me a BOP Prisioner number:
22303-069

So you hit a very raw nerve there, and one I am both proud and eager to
defend in not very civil terms against dishonest people such as yourself.

We might diasgree on our views regarding the draft, but don't you dare put
words in my mouth that I have not uttered. That is dishonest.

Debate me for what I said, or what I really imply, not for a phantom created
solely in your mind.

And in a last note, Pedro Colon Almenas, a very dear comrade and friend,
spent one year and is still serving a 5 year long probation, for a fist
fight with a 40-something ROTC Major (who later was banned from entering a
Navy base for a fight he had with a guard during 9-11). And this guy did
jailtime so others, not including me of course, might go free. He
sacrificied everything for the struggle. Only for a clueless patronizing
pseudo-socialist to come and pretend that he can preach to a guy like me
about opposing the military. Its in my veins, you freakazoid.

> Carlos may think this movement is ineffective,

Again, I have no fucking idea from where you get this. I never ever on this
list have commented on such a movement being ineffective. Quite the
contrary, the only time I recall mentioning it was in a positive light.

The archives are there, check for yourself.

sks


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