COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: War Protests: General
Melee of the Young Republican Berserkers
VIJAY PRASHAD, CounterPunch.org
October 3, 2005
The scene has thoroughly changed. The late Septemberanti-war demonstration comes at a time when nation-wide
support for the War on Iraq plummets. Calls for a troop
withdrawal escalate among the political elite, as the
warmongers shift their rationale for the war
shamelessly. We went there to prevent a 9/11; if we
leave it might provoke a 9/11. The shadow of 9/11 is
itself being overrun by the floodwaters of Louisiana.
General George Casey, son of another General George
Casey of Cambodia, announced in late September that the
troop cutbacks hinted at in the Spring would not
happen, as the "situation has changed a little bit."
The "little" here refers to the massive upsurge of
resistance attacks: the US strategy appears to be to
isolate the mainly Sunni resistance, and thereby create
the basis for a general religio-ethnic civil war. Let
the natives fight among themselves, and soon the only
justification needed for the imperial forces to remain
is that they must play umpire. Such is the unique logic
of colonial rule: divide et impera, divide and conquer.
No longer the confidence of popularity. Now the
Boy-Emperor's swagger seems tired. But there is no
slackness in the will of the warmongers. Recruitment is
done for the planetary bloodletting. Among the
working-class there is now little care for the
shibboleths of patriotism, when the only thing that
seems to matter to the political and economic elite is
the patriotism of the bottom line. The Generals are
nervous, and the ante is up.
At Holyoke Community College (HCC), in Holyoke,
Massachusetts, one of the many educational institutions
that cater mainly to the working-class, the iron fist
flew through the velvet glove. On Thursday, September
29, 2005, the Army National Guard sent its recruiters
to the campus, where the student Anti-War Coalition met
them. According to a statement by the college
authorities, the altercation between the recruiters and
the anti-war protestors created a disruption in the
cafeteria and led to "an escalating display of
emotions." Campus security intervened, and, again
according to the college authorities, "the anti-war
group chose to ignore [a student code of conduct] we
had established to ensure the safety of all, and
endangered the safety of the recruiters, students and
others present." The campus cops hit a student with
pepper spray, and the state police showed up. Arrests
followed, as did the subsequent retaliatory punishment
against one student, sophomore Charles Peterson.
The college conveniently avoided any mention of the
Campus Republicans, who came in force to back the
recruiters, and according to Peterson, who was sprayed
by the cops, the Republican Youth went berserk and
started to assault the anti-war protestors. The
authorities also did not mention that one of the campus
cops (Officer Scott Landry) is an advisor to the Young
Republicans. When the state cops appeared, they came in
full battle gear, ready to create Falluja in Holyoke.
Some students report that the state police pointed guns
at them.
Keep in mind that in June 2003, an HCC student, James
Lacey committed suicide after he returned from his
"tour of duty" in Iraq. At the memorial service for
Lacey, his friend from HCC and fellow veteran, Sean
Lamory pointed out that the reservists and National
Guard are bearing the burden of the Iraq War. They
"join the military for free college and benefits," he
said, not because they are especially patriotic. (In
September 2005, the Educational Policy Institute
released a report on student debt that showed how much
of a burden it is for US college students - who pay
market rates on their student loans. ROTC makes
financial, if immoral, sense in this vise). Lamory went
on, "I see it right here at HCC, a school where a lot
of students struggle financially and come out of class
to see a fancy Hummer, surrounded by Marines in
full-dress uniforms making all sorts of promises." This
is the context for the animosity among many students at
places like HCC against the military recruiters.
The violence is a sign of desperation: a similar
incident occurred the same day at George Washington
University, when the police went after Tariq Khan, an
air force veteran, who stood before the army recruiting
station with a sign, "Recruiters tell Lies." He was
violently removed from the scene. This violence is also
visible in the way the recruiters went among the
refugees of Hurricane Katrina, before FEMA officials.
They are vultures who feast on tragedy. The recruiters
in the Astrodome are matched only by the fetid
provision in the No Child Left Behind Act that
automatically collects the names and addresses of
under-age children for military recruiters.
As consent slips away, we learnt from Gramsci, coercion
begins its ugly march into the light. We might be at
this stage.
But there are still some tasks before us. The Anti-War
Coalition, at HCC, has produced four unimpeachable
demands:
(1) An immediate, unconditional public apology from the
college.
(2) A pledge of non-retaliation against the activists
involved.
(3) A thorough and impartial investigation into these
incidents.
(4) That the military recruiters not be allowed back to
our college, as their actions and those of the military
discriminate against people based on their sexual
orientation, in violation of Massachusetts law and
college policy. Furthermore, the military is engaging
in an economic draft against working class and poor
people in an attempt to buttress this nation's illegal
war against Iraq.
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