Since its inception, the United States military has recruited teenagers to enlist.
During the Revolutionary War, when the military was formally established, young men were encouraged to fight for their country voluntarily. During the Civil War, conscription — essentially mandatory military enrollment for men of a certain age — was implemented, initially targeting men age 21 to 30. The draft was later expanded to include men as young as 18, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, and continued over centuries as a way to maintain a base of military service people. In a statement to Teen Vogue, Lisa M. Ferguson, media relations chief for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, said, “The Army seeks qualified individuals 17 [to] 34 years old.”
Since the draft ended in 1973, the military has relied on an all-volunteer service and has targeted young people, using strategies that include placing recruiters in schools. This is allowed because the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President George W. Bush in 2002, requires military recruiters be granted the same access in schools as college recruiters.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center, which has specialized in investigations of the racist right, has detected a disturbing trend that has infested the military. Aryan Nation graffiti has been seen in Baghdad–the latest bit of evidence suggesting that just as left wing cadre often take root in factories, ultra right cadre have come to find the US military quite congenial. In 1996 following a decade long rash of cases where extremists in the military were caught diverting huge arsenals of stolen firearms and explosives to neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations, conducting guerilla training for paramilitary racist militias, and murdering “non white” civilians, the Pentagon finally acted. One general ordered all 19,000 soldiers at Fort Lewis, Washington strip-searched in an attempt to find extremist tattoos. Now, it seems that with the decline in recruitment–or, perhaps, for other reasons–the Pentagon is turning a blind eye to the influx of neo nazis into their ranks.”
Also, here’s Global times article: Evidence suggests US may have supported neo-Nazi Azov Battalion
“Ironically, despite being widely regarded as a threat to world security and an enemy of human civilization, Azov Battalion was found to have ties not only with the Ukraine authorities but also with the US. After looking into the public information from the US government and some investigative reports by Western journalists, the Global Times discovered that American politicians, military and intelligence officers were highly likely to have had cooperation with the Azov Battalion, in order to foster extremist forces in Eastern Europe against Russia.”
and the Iraqi people welcomed the Americans with flowers. I wanted to set a historical event to teach Bush a lesson from the Iraqis, telling him you lied, we did not welcome you with flowers, and instead we are saying goodbye with our shoes.“
Muntaza Al Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who became known as the guy who threw a shoe at Bush and later ended up in jail for three years because of it.
happy 12 years to bush shoeing incident
Not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they throw shoes.
