The author is a member of March Forward!, an organization of veterans and service members who stand against war and racism.
 |
The training consists of military-and-law-enforcement-style tactics to confront “terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence.”
In the latest military training exercise, young people responded to a hostage-type situation in a town near the Mexican border in which a “disgruntled Iraq war veteran has already taken out two people.” Eight teenage boys and girls—the youngest is 14 years old—rush the home with simulated weapons ready to kill.
Cathy Noriega, a 16-year-old, was attracted to the Explorers program by these weapons. Though they use compressed-air guns for training, they do fire actual weapons on closed ranges. Cathy told The New York Times: “I like shooting them … I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”
Individuals between the ages of 14 and 21 with at least a C average in school are able to participate. Apparently there are loopholes that allow even younger people to join, since Deputy Lowenthal is quoted as saying “I will take them at 13 and a half … I would rather take a kid than possibly lose a kid.”
Law enforcement officials, who see this program as preparing young people as potential employees, shape the program’s focus.
“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, an Imperial County sheriff’s deputy. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.” In reality, the program trains young people to be used as tools in a racist campaign of terror against immigrant workers and others.
The Explorers’ national organization has claimed that no organizations or individuals have made any criticism of the content or purpose of the training.
March Forward! is an organization of veterans and service members taking a stand against war and racism. March Forward! unequivocally opposes the Explorers program, which is a paramilitary-styled organization, and any program that indoctrinates young people with hatred and racism towards immigrants, “disgruntled veterans,” or any other group.
For the federal government to praise the efforts of its veterans and active-duty service members and simultaneously train young people to shoot “disgruntled” Iraq war veterans is appalling. This program represents an attempt by the U.S. government to criminalize veterans and active-duty service members that have stood against the criminal wars and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In reality, veterans and service members who refuse to remain silent and speak out represent a growing percentage of military veterans and service members. Those members are becoming increasingly more organized and moving against the imperialist pursuits of the United States in both the Middle East and Central Asia—these same veterans make up a powerful component of the anti-war movement.
The recent violence carried out by veterans and circulated through the media, such as the events surrounding Sgt. Russell in Baghdad, are a testament to the need for soldiers to be treated for not only physical trauma but psychological trauma as well.
March Forward! demands that all federal, state and local funding for the Explorers program be immediately withdrawn and that this funding be given directly to the Veterans Affairs Administration to help diagnose and treat veterans and all service members who are suffering both physically and mentally from their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
We demand that all troops be removed from both Iraq and Afghanistan, and that not one more soldier, sailor, airman or marine be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan to kill for corporate interest. We demand that not one more soldier, sailor, airman or marine die or be psychologically wounded for imperialist lies.
This is not our war!
