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Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8550
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:24 am Post subject: 800,000 Privileged Youths Enlist To Fight In Iraq
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Hey, it could happen. Couldn't it?
We've Been So Selfish'
January 10, 2007 | Issue 43•02
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| WASHINGTON, DC—Citing a desire to finally make a difference in Iraq, in the past two weeks, more than 800,000 young people from upper-middle- and upper-class families have put aside their education, careers, and physical well-being to enlist in the military, new data from the Department Of Defense shows. |
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| "I don't know if it was the safety and comfort of the holidays or what, but I realized that my affluence and ease of living comes at a cost," said Private Jonathan Grace, 18, who was to commence studies at Dartmouth College next fall, but will instead attend 12 weeks of basic training before being deployed to Fallujah with the 1st Army Battalion. |
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"I just looked at my parents in their cashmere sweaters and thought, 'Who am I to go to an elite liberal arts college and spend all my time reading while, in the real world, thousands of kids my age are sacrificing their lives for our country?' It's not right."
Added Grace: "Whether I agree with the war or not, our president needs us, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let our least advantaged citizens bear the brunt of this awesome burden." |
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| They don't have these recruitment centers where I live," said Daniel Feldman, 26, who resides in the affluent neighborhood of Brookline, MA and recently passed his bar exam. "I didn't realize you could just sign up, but now that I do, all of my friends from law school, yoga class, and temple are going to join, too. And not the Reserves either. We're talking down and dirty, right on the front lines." |
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New Marine Sierra Pettingill, a 22-year-old sociology major who left Duke University before her final semester, said she felt compelled to serve after realizing she did not have a single acquaintance who had died, or even served, in Iraq.
"I was sending out invitations to my champagne-brunch birthday get-together when I heard that U.S. military casualties in Iraq had reached 2,900," Pettingill said. "I decided then and there that I would not allow this inherently unequal system to perpetuate any longer, no matter how much I want to go have martini night at the Oak Room." |
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| U.S. Gen. John Abizaid, who has in the past argued against a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, now says that with the influx of nearly a million troops expected to be on the ground Feb. 1, the region should be stabilized within six weeks. |
Now THAT'S a "surge" I could actually get behind. 
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Magnolia
Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 1707
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Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:46 pm Post subject:
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These brave young people are the heart and soul of our country. I am very proud of the youth of this country.
We need to pray that our leadership does not fail them.
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denimandlace_69
Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 422
Location: Somewhere between here and there...
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:43 am Post subject:
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When I started reading this I just knew it had to be from the Onion! 
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Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8550
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:57 am Post subject:
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The Onion has become pretty much my favorite "news" source these days. Their stories are no more fantastic than some of the stuff that's really happening these days and at least they're funny.
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Nofsdad
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 8550
Location: Central CA
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:12 am Post subject:
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| Magnolia wrote: |
These brave young people are the heart and soul of our country. I am very proud of the youth of this country.
We need to pray that our leadership does not fail them. |
Our leadership hasn't failed them so far as rich industrialist larva and politician's kids are concerned. Of 500 plus members of the US Congress, only one has a son or daughter in uniform and fighting in Iraq and that one only took office this month.
Not a single Cabinet member's kid or high level bureaucrat's offspring have answered the call. No right wing talk radio hosts or their kids, no right wing news media mogul's children, not one of the major hawks...
I think this is the point The Onion is making here. At least in my day they had the draft and most people were subjected to the same odds of having to go and get their butts blown off though I must admit, some were extremely adept at obtaining deferments for the entire length of the conflict. By some strange coincidence, some of those are now the major politicians and bureaucrats described above.
Today we have a whole generation of "leaders" who have never served or if they served, never managed to get near the shooting and never heard or saw a shot fired in anger and whose children have never been or will never be put in harm's way all mouthing jingoistic slogans about duty and honor and proclaiming YOUR duty to either serve or send your children to serve.
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Magnolia
Joined: 26 Aug 2005
Posts: 1707
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:
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| denimandlace_69 wrote: |
| When I started reading this I just knew it had to be from the Onion! |
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terminator
Joined: 19 Oct 2003
Posts: 2803
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Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 3:17 pm Post subject:
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| "I just looked at my parents in their cashmere sweaters and thought, 'Who am I to go to an elite liberal arts college and spend all my time reading while, in the real world, thousands of kids my age are sacrificing their lives for our country?' It's not right |
And I look at my parents in the grave who left me with 2 nickels to rub together and say............." MY kids arn't going to fight for OIL" 
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