NotConvinced

The city of Berkeley tries to deny the Marines the ability to recruit there, based on their opinion of the War in Iraq. Members of Congress are planning to draw up legislation that would take federal funding away from the city, to the tune of millions of dollars.

Thoughts?

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Everything you think you thought, the water's gone...every drop.

greywolf90

well if everyone is against the war, then having a recruiter there shouldn't be a problem. it sounds like the anti-war majority is making the decision for the whole population, and the problem is there may be a few people there who want to join. as long as their are those few are there, the city shouldn't deny them. if some of them want to join, then they should have the freedom to.

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"is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?"- poe

AB517

Not surprised at all.

I do not know what to say.
I hope the feds step in that’s for sure.
The governments answer will be weaker than mine, I am sure, but maybe that’s better.

Geshtinnanna

Well if we are ever attacked on our own soil we will just make sure we skip that city. I am sure they wouldn't mind.

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shadowind

if no one wants to join, then whats the point in not allowing the recruiters to be there? Their not doing anything other then making it more difficult for the minority that wants to join from doing so.

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remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

GX

Well, I feel their passions about the war are legitimate but misplaced. The marines didnt start the war. As a matter of fact, most of the military hierarchy advised the president against the war. All that energy would be better spent directed against the republican politicians who started the war and the democrat politicians who refused to do anything about it after the last election.

Skepticologist

I would agree with the previous posts in normal times. But this is anything but, very similar to scarcely 30 years ago when this country was forging its "peace with honor" after getting our butts kicked out of South Vietnam.

Berkeley, and more specifically the university, has long been an anti-establishment voice, but mostly when the establishment has taken untenable positions that fly in the face of the greater good. Just like it did back in the Vietnam era.

Like the Vietnam conflict, the war in Iraq was premised on trumped-up intelligence to justify a misguided and wrong-headed establishment's pre-conceived notions about what would make the world a better place (at least for the wealthiest 1% of the population).

I agree that the recruiters wouldn't achieve their greatest success in Berkeley, so it may be a moot point. But the people there have just as much right to make a statement against a senseless, meangingless, unjustified war as the Marines have to lure yet more young Americans into its horrors.

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"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."

Clarence Darrow

shadowind

so should cites be able to deny miltary organaizations recruitment in their areas?

__________________
remember "for mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescirbe to oursleves is liberty"-rousseau: the concept of the general will "if we can not reconcile all opions, then let us endeavour to unite all hearts."-?"to be is to be perceived"-? "‘We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, when asked what is beyond the horizon of the known, we must say that we do not know’-Robert G. Ingersoll

greywolf90

people should have the right to join even if the majority of the city they live in is against it. by not allowing any recruiters to work in the city, they are not letting the minority of people who want to join do so (assuming that moving to another city isn't an option for their situation). besides, if everyone is against the military, it shouldn't be a problem to have recruiters there. it would be like sticking a preacher in a city of atheists...

__________________
"is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream?"- poe

AB517

They are allowed to voice there opinion.
They can suggest possible alternatives.

They are not allowed to tell others what to do.

I agree with you guys too. I hope the government just ignores them. Maybe when asked about it they can even say they we had no intention of sending a recruiter there anyway and just end it.

One thing is for sure, if we do not change our corporate policies abroad they will strike us again after we leave IRAQ.