SWOPblogger

Thus far in the War on Terror 3335 American soliders have died, 29 from the Land of Enchantment. It is also estimated that over 600,000 Iraqi civilians have also died.

The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has declared the War in Iraq to already be 'lost'. Dubya's approval ratings are at all time lows, the people in the U.S. are taking to the streets VietNAM style.

We're in the middle of an Iraqi Civil War and we're gambling with the highest stakes imaginable, the lives of our brave young men and women.

Congress just passed a bill that would require troop withdrawls to start no later than October 1st. This of course is headed for the inevitable showdown with the self proclaimed "Decider", and an even more inevitable Presidential Veto.

Public opinion including youth are now mostly against the war, but the administration refuses to listen. Since the first enlistment cycle in '03, recruitment goals had not been met. But after propaganda for the war pushes and "in house" military recruiters on high school campuses, enlistment goals were finally met in '05-'06.

According to the National Research Council the U.S. Department of Defense is the nation's largest employer, with 1.2 million active duty personnel and 675,000 civilian support employees.

The military enlists approx. 200,000 new recruits each year. With about 15,000 military recruiters on payroll, their sole purpose is to sniff out, find, recruit, (many times lie to) and enlist young people.

Military recruiters have stepped up their game, the effects of this increase in recruiting are the most visible in schools where the student body is made up of mostly people of color. With a recruitment budget of around $4 billion, young people are constantly being hit with a steady barrage of ads for military service.

The "No Child Left Behind" act allows recruiters access to school records of high school juniors and seniors and allows them access to campus' nationwide.

Recruiters are the salesmen for the military; misleading our youth with bribes of education and a chance to see the world in exchange for the ultimate risk- their lives.

Thats why the young folk over at SWOP have decided to stand against heightened military recruitment targeted at young low-income students of color.

We demand the opportunity for young people to make well-informed decisions about their future.

To ensure this, we demand APS provides access to alternative education to the military.

We might not be able to stop the death quota from being filled for this War OF TERROR, but at least we can make sure that our young people here in New Mexico have all the information they need to make an educated decision about their futures.

STOP SENDING OUR KIDS TO DIE!!!!!