Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Love a man in a uniform?

The raging debate on Army recruitment strategies

The National Union of Teachers is in defiant mood. Standing in the dock today, Army recruitment strategies. We've all met kids as young as 18 signing up after a game too many of 'Call of Duty' or 'Command and Conquer'. And we've all read those (infuriating) interviews with the parents suddenly finding themselves on the anti-war side the moment their kids come back from Iraq in a coffin. "I was in favour of the war at the start, but now I realise my son died for a pack of lies".

Well, being loyal with whatever your government decides to do -including the Iraq adventure- is the essence of joining the armed forces. If you're the questioning type then you're in the wrong trade.

But here's exactly what The National Union of Teachers are debating and it's difficult to argue they haven't got a point:

"They are too young to vote, too young to drink, too young to drive, but they are considered old enough to sign up for years in the armed forces without being fully aware of what they are signing themselves up for in their lives", a union member presenting the motion said.

The other issue, along the lines of the debate in the US (as infamously seen on Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11), is that of recruitment programmes running in high unemployment areas.
This is the coverage on today's BBC online.

This is The Daily Mail's take on the subject (talks of "Left-wingers" galore).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's cuz of people like u that iraq turned into a mess. if every1 suported there countries, both here and in the US, the campaign wud b a lot more effective. im no fan of bush but fair dues to him 4 not givin up to please political correctness.

BANBURY LAD

Anonymous said...

How exactly do people who disagree with the war in Iraq make it a 'mess'? The whole reason behind it was 'a mess' in the first place!
Some clarification would be appreciated.
Also, everyone in Britain/USA supporting the Iraq war does not make it more effective, because the fact still remains that it is a pointless and illegal exercise, in which a whole government lied appallingly to the public. That is unforgivable, and would turn ANYONE in their right mind against it, unless they're one of the Blairite, Dubya-ite warmongering class, that is.
Are you honestly saying that People should support an invasion/war just because you have to 'support' your country? Just because you are British, you have to swallow everything your Prime Minister says to you? Come on...
That's like excusing a German who'd say 'I'm no fan of Hiter but because he was German I have to support his policies' Think about it.
Also, I don't think political correctness has anything to do with this topic, do you? You say you are no fan of Bush, but that comment points otherwise...
This is obviously the opinion of someone who has done very little research into the topic in the first place.