Extra Delayed Rant on the State of the Union (Repost)
"A second task we can take on together is to design and establish a volunteer Civilian Reserve Corps. Such a corps would function much like our military reserve. It would ease the burden on the Armed Forces by allowing us to hire civilians with critical skills to serve on missions abroad when America needs them. And it would give people across America who do not wear the uniform a chance to serve in the defining struggle of our time."
- President G.W. Bush, State of the Union 2007
I've been meaning to write about this for a while now (since the state of the union), just haven't got around to it. Better late than never, right? maybe not but here goes anyway: It seems to me that in making this statement our President called for the creation of a MERCENARY Corps. Does this bother anyone else? And I haven't heard anyone talking about this at all. This could be because the line before it called for an increase in the troop levels in Iraq. If so, it was great placement to hide it from scrutiny. On the other hand this could merely be a more technical corps providing expertise in areas outside of the purview of the military, but I wouldn't bet on it. Even if it is, that's what the army corps of engineers is for and the State Department for more diplomatic issues. Of particular note is its being modeled after the military reserves, as we've seen how the Bush administration has utilized those with backdoor drafts on reservists who signed up with the expectation that they would never be deployed. And the fact that this Civilian corps would be going on missions is disturbing. I just have trouble reading this as anything other than a formal declaration of intent to use mercenaries to carry out US foreign policy, inserting yet another level of deniability for the use of illegal tactics and practices by the US government. Anyway, let me know what y'all think.
- President G.W. Bush, State of the Union 2007
I've been meaning to write about this for a while now (since the state of the union), just haven't got around to it. Better late than never, right? maybe not but here goes anyway: It seems to me that in making this statement our President called for the creation of a MERCENARY Corps. Does this bother anyone else? And I haven't heard anyone talking about this at all. This could be because the line before it called for an increase in the troop levels in Iraq. If so, it was great placement to hide it from scrutiny. On the other hand this could merely be a more technical corps providing expertise in areas outside of the purview of the military, but I wouldn't bet on it. Even if it is, that's what the army corps of engineers is for and the State Department for more diplomatic issues. Of particular note is its being modeled after the military reserves, as we've seen how the Bush administration has utilized those with backdoor drafts on reservists who signed up with the expectation that they would never be deployed. And the fact that this Civilian corps would be going on missions is disturbing. I just have trouble reading this as anything other than a formal declaration of intent to use mercenaries to carry out US foreign policy, inserting yet another level of deniability for the use of illegal tactics and practices by the US government. Anyway, let me know what y'all think.
