- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
- usa@midwest.social
- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
- usa@midwest.social
Several service members told advocacy groups they felt like pawns in a political game and assignment was unnecessary
California national guards troops and marines deployed to Los Angeles to help restore order after days of protest against the Trump administration have told friends and family members they are deeply unhappy about the assignment and worry their only meaningful role will be as pawns in a political battle they do not want to join.
Three different advocacy organisations representing military families said they had heard from dozens of affected service members who expressed discomfort about being drawn into a domestic policing operation outside their normal field of operations. The groups said they have heard no countervailing opinions.
“The sentiment across the board right now is that deploying military force against our own communities isn’t the kind of national security we signed up for,” said Sarah Streyder of the Secure Families Initiative, which represents the interests of military spouses, children and veterans.
good start, recognizing that you ARE pawns. Always were. Next step: being strong enough to quit and deal with the court martial.
if they had decency and basic sense they would not have volunteered in the first place. The trick now is to grow what little incipient hatred they have into a consciousness and recognition that they are being abused because of their class.
edit: the initial reply was harsh - those who need help after getting sucked in are the decent ones - they are “waking up.” I may hate the military and the dicks who keep supporting it, but do want compassion for the ones who realized they were tricked into joining as children and need to get the heck out.
Military recruitment is actually really insidious. They actively target low income areas with the promise of paying for college. They find people who they can convince, maybe rightly so, that they have no other option if they want to leave their impoverished life. People who live in a place where there are no jobs. Kids who are living in houses that struggle to put food on the table.
Whether it’s right or wrong. A lot of those soldiers may genuinely feel like they had no other choice but to sign up.
A lot of these soldiers are going to be late teens and early 20s. Essentially kids.
For sure! Help those simple minded kids get out when they get the slightest smell of “this ain’t right.”
Remind them all that THIS is not worth a lifetime of regret even if it does mean you can preboard your delta flight back to FL to see your grandkids.
Send them to https://girightshotline.org/
But don’t say they don’t have decency because the ‘volunteered.’ The military is exploiting them too.
I suppose that was indeed a little harsh and reactionary of me. They are, indeed, working class people. I may not respect their choice, or the system that exploits them, and the ones that “push back” can go fuck themselves.
But you are right. Compassion for those “waking up” is important!
Thanks for the link!
There is a reason the military (in multiple countries) has been called the “employer of last resort”.
They’re always recruiting, and will take almost anyone who can’t find any other job.
Goddamn, you really hate the military, huh?
I think it is, in the modern era, completely used to bolster corporate profits, destroy lives, spread violent hegemony and exploit the working class all over. So. Yeah.
Our US nation is not the “world police” and the members who wish to leave need help and support in getting out. While they acknowledge they were actually and really brainwashed through professional propagandist workflows.
The ones that rock Punisher logos and “Terrorist hunting permits” and “Don’t tread on me” flags on their F250s need to be ignored at all points in the day. They are already too far gone.
Or mutiny, that’s always nice in a revolution.