Comments by Charlie Clements, Pres. & CEO of the UUSC at the August 25 rally

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Comments by Charlie Clements, Pres. & CEO of the UUSC at the August 25 rally


I am honored to be here on this podium this morning. Thank you. I would like to spend the few minutes I have with you talking about who we are sending to Iraq today and why.

Last year the Army announced it was upping reenlistment bonuses to as much as $40,000.

Earlier in the war the promise of financial assistance was sufficient to attract many who otherwise couldn’t go to college. Do you remember the Hispanic mother who buried her daughter in Los Angeles, sobbing, “All she wanted to do was become a teacher, but the Army was the only way she could get to college.”

Last night I found an on-line advertisement from a U.S. Army recruiter offering a $20,000 enlistment bonus called a Quick Ship. To qualify you have to be ready to enlist next month. The advertisement shouts in bold letters: JUMP INTO LIFE!

We read last week that insufficient numbers of Black Americans are enlisting, so the Army is going to re-examine its recruiting pitches. It’s at least the second time. A year ago the Army changed its enlistment ‘spin’ for the mothers and grandmothers of potential Black recruits, because they were the critical factor in successful recruitment in Black neighborhoods.

The Army has doubled its number of recruiters, increased their financial incentives for each recruit, and constantly refined their pitches.

We aren’t getting enough volunteers, so the Army has waived the requirements that recruits have a high school diploma or G.E.D.

We aren’t getting enough volunteers, so the Army has waived the requirements about criminal records. Now one in ten Army recruits has a ‘moral waiver’ because they have a criminal record. Prior drug or alcohol abuse is another recently granted waiver.

The Army is now granting waivers for medical problems that would have barred the recruit from military service in other times.

Who are we as a nation that we allow these desperate young American men and women to bargain away their lives for a chance at college, for a few thousand bucks to have a fling before they go off to war, or for a chance at citizenship? The Conscription Act of 1863 signed into law by President Lincoln allowed wealthy Americans the right to buy their way out of service for $300.00. Is that what is happening today with our tax dollars? Is the reason we don’t have to worry about our sons or daughters having to serve, because the U.S. Army is offering $20,000 so others will serve in their place?

You may have read about the young immigrant who enlisted in the Army and was killed in Iraq; it had been his dream to become a U.S. citizen. In 2004 George Bush signed changes into law making it easier for military personnel to gain citizenship. It is one of the reasons there are 60,000 immigrants serving in the U.S. military today.

Doesn’t all of this tell us something about this war? If the sons of hawks like Mitt Romney won’t serve in the military, because, like Dick Cheney during the Vietnam-era, they have “other priorities,” then the strategy boils down to “attract whomever we can by lowering our physical standards, by lowering our mental standards, by lowering our moral standards, by lowering immigration hurdles, by offering desperate young Americans huge amounts of money for a Quick Ship bonus.”

But we, of course, will not be able to see their coffins when they are Quick Shipped back to the United States. We are not allowed to see those images, because those images might make the job of military recruiters more difficult.

There is something rotten today, but it’s not in Denmark…it’s this war the U.S. is waging in Iraq.
Military service should not be about cheap tricks and deceptions by military recruiters to lure the unsuspecting and unqualified into service. How many of our brave men and women serving their third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq with a Guard or Reserve unit understood that’s what they were signing up for? Ask Camilo Mejia that question. When he tried to leave the Army after his three-year enlistment was up, he was reminded of the small print in his contract, which called for another five years of Reserve duty.

Iraq Vets against the war is the fastest growing veteran’s organization in the United States, and on September 17th they are launching a national “Truth in Recruiting” campaign.
There is something rotten in the air when men and women who have risked their lives for this country have to launch a campaign to demand recruiters tell the truth to those who would follow in their footsteps.

Let us not make the mistake that was made by many of those who opposed the war in the Vietnam-era. Let us declare loudly and proudly that service in the U.S. military should be about pride and honor and courage. We do not denigrate anyone who serves honorably in the U.S. military. However, when our commander-in-chief in leads us into a war based upon deception and lies, when our commander-in-chief ignores the reports of his own intelligence apparatus about the realities of that war, when our commander-in-chief continues to send brave men and women into a war that will be not won by military means, then we must protect the military from its own commander-in-chief.

I have so little time with you that I will leave it to others to speak about the Iraqis, who are suffering and dying today, because one of the factors fueling the war today is the very presence of the U.S. military.

One way you can help is to seek out a veteran or an active duty soldier and invite her or him into your church or synagogue or school or community gathering to hear their story. Thank them for their service to the country. Honor them by listening to their story. They are there… in your own community, waiting to be heard. They need to be heard by the young men and women being cajoled and coaxed today by military recruiters. Many organizations can help you with this. We’ll help connect you with a Veteran for Peace, an Iraqi Veteran against the War, a member of Appeal for Redress, or a spokesperson for Military Families Speak Out.

Your call may save a life, a life that would otherwise be auctioned away for $20,000.