Taking The Kids Out Of Soldiering

<i>"I have a really difficult time just looking at the pamphlet because of the way it's set up. It's offering children as young as 16 money, of course. At the end of a two month summer camp you get paid $3,000 -- that's $1,500 a month. It offers military training, offers to teach young people how to handle artillery, military life. The program's called "Bold Eagle" and the cultural component starts in the first week, for four days.</i><br><br> And after they graduate from this kindergarten soldier program and become real soldiers, the fringe benefits continue on,like for example the complimentary depleted uranium poisoning.<br><br> <i>Terry Riordon was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces serving in the Gulf War. He passed away in April 1999 at the age of 45. The official cause of death was Gulf War Syndrome.<br><br> Terry went to the Persian Gulf in December 26, 1990 with honor, dignity and pride - serving his country as Captain J. Terry Riordon of the Canadian Armed Forces. Terry left Canada a very fit man who did cross-country skiing and ran in marathons. On his return only two months later he could barely walk.<br><br> He returned to Canada in February 1991 with documented loss of motor control, chronic fatigue, respiratory difficulties, chest pain, difficulty breathing, sleep problems, short-term memory loss, testicle pain, body pains, aching bones, diarrhea, and depression. After his death depleted uranium (DU) contamination was discovered in his lungs and bones.<br><br> For eight years he suffered his innumerable ailments and struggled with the military bureaucracy and the system to get proper diagnosis and treatment. His wife, Susan Riordon, speaks most eloquently of the nightmare of physical, mental and emotional hardship endured not just by Terry but his entire family.<br><br> He was ultimately unsuccessful it getting the answers or help he needed in his lifetime. His final wish was to donate his body to independent research on DU. That was Terry's gift to all who served in the Persian Gulf. He wanted his body to supply the answers to years of suffering and frustration. Through his gift UMRC was able to have obtain conclusive evidence of internal DU contamination in his lungs and bones. Even after death Terry continues to contribute to his country and his fellow veterans.</i><br><br> <a href="http://www.umrc.net/riordon.aspx">www.umrc.net/riordon.aspx</a>

"The Canadian military is offering $3,000 and the promise of a 'cultural program' to attract recruits among native youth as young as 16 into a summer program in Wainwright, Alberta."

Someone should beat the shit out of these predators and have them thrown in prison along side the rest of the scum.

Bold Eagle "Basic Training" serials are simply the Canadian Forces response to the Federal Governments imposition of The Forces apparent need to reflect Canadian society. The thinking; our society has natives in it, so thus should the CF. This concept should be very familiar to readers; 50% women in Cdn society....therfore all police, firefighting, and other government entities should be 50% populated by women [whether they want to or not], and so on and so forth....

It is in every aspect but two, a duplication of the very same Reserve Basic Training, that non-natives volunteer for:

a. it allows recruits to train in an environment that caters to thier specific ethnic peoples [apparently less stressful and homogeneous; and
b. caters to native traditions/practices.

It must be stated that the program is largely inefficient, in that relatively few actually "sign up" with either the Reserve or Regular forces.

That said, I personally support it. Anything that might encourage a young native lad or lass, who apparently has no future in a Native Reserve environment, to join the military and enjoy a decent standard of living for themselves and thier family, I'm all for. Better than sitting on The Res and quite potentially drawing a welfare check. Either way, "we" are picking up the bill; however comma in the latters case, "we" are getting something in return.

Myself; I grew up quite impoverished as a child, raised by a signle parent; joined the CF at 20 yrs of age and done quite well for myself and my family, thank you very much. I have and will continue encouraged natives locked into the reservation environment to sign on the dotted line, just as I have any young Canadian person.

There is nothing more honorable IMHO, than servitude and self-sacrifice to one's country.

One inheritantly establishes a strong defence by maintaining a relatively strong offence capability.

On a slightly different note: I am all for, the recent notion that Canada should stand up a completely native battalion [or two]. An idea that I've read, the Feds are not to keen on. Pity.

cheers....'Ole

Please do not hold back; I would love to hear your detailed explanation.

I presume that your not a great fan of the Canadian Forces ?


cheers....'Ole

Quote from the ole curmudgeon: "There is nothing more honorable IMHO, than
servitude and self-sacrifice to one's country."

Defending one's country is one thing, me paying our military to murder is
another. They are in the service of Corporate USA/Canada right now and are in
no way protecting me and in fact are making my life more likely to be put in
danger.

Laying down your arms and serving and sacraficing for peace would be far more
honourable IMHO. Packing a gun around a foreign country that never attacked
us is not serving Canada.

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"The most sustainable product is the one you never bought in the first place."
Alex Steffan

This is a very good point, one which I agree whole heartedly,
"There is nothing more honorable IMHO, than servitude and self-sacrifice to
one's country." but...and there is a very big but at this point in our history.
Our young soldiers are not serving OUR country, defending OUR freedom, or
honouring OUR beliefs and values; unfortunately they are being sacrificed in
the DU environment along with the many other innocent human beings who
call it home. They are being sacrificed for the interests of power, greed and
control of a region and they are not protected in their mission. Has anyone
been able to provide any suitable equipment or clothing that can protect
them from inhaling the DU that is all over that area?

So while I think it is great to give people who do not have hope for the future,
some training, some skills etc which they can use for their lives, however is
this lifeskills training we are talking about? There are plenty of documents
which give evidence of the Depleted Uranium contamination in the area, and
that contamination
will not stay 'over there' as it is picked up by the windstorms and taken out to
the ocean it kills and keeps on killing people, livestock, forest, crop etc etc
etc. Is this what we want to recruit our children for?

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"aaaah and the whisper of thousands of tiny voices became a mighty deafening roar and they called it 'freedom'!"' Canadians Acting Humanely at home & everywhere

"Please do not hold back"

If I did not hold back, I'd probably get kicked out of this forum in a hurry. Sorry bud, there's no catch for ya today.

"Anything that might encourage a young native lad or lass, who apparently has no future in a Native Reserve environment, to join the military and enjoy a decent standard of living for themselves and thier family, I'm all for."

You have just announced that you support those who encourage disadvantaged and desperate children to leave behind a largely manufactured future of hopelessness in Canada's "native reserves" to take on a bright and industrious future as a corpse in a cheap pine box.

What can anyone say about people who advocate luring children into a death trap so that some sicko gets to play King?

Instead of encouraging these young "lasses and lads" to fight someone else's wars of conquest, how about instead that we encourage them to stick it out and make their home a better place than what they had to grow up in?

The ugly truth about "our" armed forces is that it has become a private army of mercenaries fighting not Canada's wars, but those of imperialism. As a pee-on in the grand scheme of things, all that Canada has going for it are its natural resources and far too many pimple faced fodder for the meat grinder.

Well said rearguard, I have to agree and that in fact because these
wonderboys have created so much poverty, they are providing the perfect
desperate climate to lure our children into fighting their wars. How many of
our kids joined to get a trade, or get an education or because there were no
jobs in their community? That is not to say that isn't a good thing in some
ways, in some circumstances; and when our military was protecting our rights
and freedoms we could
proudly encourage our children to be career soldiers.

I have always been a
very proud supporter of our Canadian forces, because of their diplomacy,
their reputation, and so forth. When my husband served in Germany many
moons ago, the Canadians were very well liked, and that reputation has
served us well; but it is a new era and we are not in control of our military
and instead we have generals making comments like, 'we are trained to kill
and kill we will' . Just take a look at the recruiting site today, 'come and fight
with us' etc etc. Where does it say, 'come and learn to be a diplomat, come
and learn how to keep the peace and earn the hearts and minds of desperate
people, come and help us rebuild communities and offer hope to the
impoverished, come and learn peaceful ways to real conflict
resolution....come and join us as we stand and protect your countrymen/
women from foreign and domestic enemies. NOPE! That is not what we are
doing and it isn't what they are promoting. It is even on the main gov website.
The problem is that many people have an image of our military that is from
the past, not the present situation.

When Canadians are under Canadian
command, and not subjected to the ideals of a foreign power, we may once
again be able to encourage our youth to serve their country in that way. I'm
not trying to say that our military shouldn't ever kill, I know they aren't
boyscouts, but killing should be the absolute last resort and it shouldn't be
promoted as desirable. We are not killing, 'scumbags' or any other inanimate
object, these are people; mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and they are
doing what they believe is defending their homeland. Not to mention the
children who aren't doing anything other than trying to survive.


We'll never have peace if we keep buying into the warrior mentality! He who
kills the most does not win! That is a myth. He who kills the most just ends
up with blood on their hands, a twisted mind and a heart that never stops
aching. Is that really what we want to show our children how to do? And I
agree if they want to offer the impoverished native children opportunity,
teach them trades, and do it on the job, on the reserves that are worse than
some third world countries! Build communities, their own, get them clean
running water right here in our own country...in fact that is something that
people could be doing all over this nation and if the military wants to donate
the time and offer such a program, Fantastic! That would be money well
spent. imo

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"aaaah and the whisper of thousands of tiny voices became a mighty deafening roar and they called it 'freedom'!"' Canadians Acting Humanely at home & everywhere

This year Mr. 4Canada and I decided to hold back 7.9% of our net taxes and <br />
have it held in trust by "Conscience Canada". <a href="http://www.consciencecanada.ca">www.consciencecanada.ca</a><br />
<br />
Normally we would receive a tax refund but this year was different. I'm sure the <br />
government decided that we should have our employers take off our taxes so <br />
that we were forced to pay and not given a choice to support murder on my <br />
dollar, and murder it is. I don't support capital punishment either so why should <br />
I support war?<p>---<br>"The most sustainable product is the one you never bought in the first place."<br />
Alex Steffan

I am torn, I hate the thought of young natives being conned into a system that may find them fighting and dying in a country that does not want them there and for no other reason than Harper wants to be nice to the amerikans.

However, joining the military was good for me, I enjoyed it, I learned from it, and I grew with in it.

I honestly believe that within the military natives would be treated with respect.

ole curmudgeon and I agree. But I cannot ignore the agruements that we are producing an army that is being used. It is a very old problem we have in that we must dam the forces but praise the soldier.

Nothing shows how difficult that is for me than the postings on this question.

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Like a great red wine at the end of a good meal or a Van Morrison song played at just the right time, proof there is a god and every once in a while she smiles.

"The thinking; our society has natives in it, so thus
should the CF. This concept should be very familiar to
readers; 50% women in Cdn society....therfore all
police, firefighting, and other government entities
should be 50% populated by women [whether they
want to or not], and so on and so forth...."

So, let's see...does this mean that the global elite who
are profiting from this war are also well represented in
the military? Or...do their children go to the "best
schools" and learn the subtle skills of of screwing over
the have nots?

Sure, give the natives the option of joining the military,
but shouldn't you also give them the opportunity of
becoming educated without having to turn themselves
into human bullet and bomb targets?

And exactly what are "we getting in return" by footing the
bill to send these poor kids to Afghanistan? Political
instability and terrorism are up, the heroin drug trade is
up and that poor country is in worse shape than it has
been in decades. Innocent people are getting blown up
on a daily basis.

Exactly what the hell have we accomplished these
past six years? Enough already with the mainstream
media cheerleading bullshit! This war is lost period!
Both from a military and public opinion standpoint.

Who starts wars and who has to fight them? Until Harper, Peter McKay, Stockwell Day, Jason Kenney, Rahim Jaffer and the rest of these neocons take their turn for 6 mos. or better yet 12 mos. on the frontlines in Afganistan, I have zero respect for these warmongers.

I think this journalist from Scotland, James Connolly had it right when he wrote "If these men must die, would it not be better to die in their own country fighting for freedom for their class, and for the abolition of war, rather than to go forth to strange countries and be slaughtering and slaughtered by their brothers, that tyrants and profiteers may live."
Glascow Forward, August 15, 1914
I have a simple question, what exactly are the Canadian soldiers dying for in Afghanistan? Spare me the 'freedom and democracy' part.

slljan (is that spelling sierra, lima, lima, julliet, alpha, November?) My screen is
so small that my eyes cannot distinguish the letters.

I just wanted to say about the quote: "If these men must die, would it not be
better to die in their own country fighting for freedom for their class, and for the
abolition of war, rather than to go forth to strange countries and be slaughtering
and slaughtered by their brothers, that tyrants and profiteers may live.", that if
our military WAS defending Canada right now there would be a whole lot more
support for them and the a-holes that tell them what to do in our name.



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"The most sustainable product is the one you never bought in the first place."
Alex Steffan