Writer raised a ruckus with criticism of military
By Melana Preston

The Telescope, Palamar Community College
4/28/08

Palomar students protested author David Solnit's presentation slamming U.S. military recruiting practices.

Advocating for what he termed "truth in recruiting," Solnit's presentation featured a satirical puppet show and a table with various pamphlets and information on a range of current political affairs.

The debate turned a variety of directions, although Solnit primarily argued against what he called "predatory and dishonest military recruitment practices."

Detailed in Solnit's recent book "Army of None," Solnit said some of these practices included failure by recruiters to clearly convey a contract clause of a mandatory eight years of military service.

Members of Palomar's military community, including troops, veterans and families of veterans, reacted passionately against the presentation. A mini-counterdemonstration followed when Army sergeant and student Jessica Ainley spontaneously erected a large poster board in response to Solnit's presentation.

The sign featured statements like "I fight for their right to burn the flag" and "I fight for their right to do this" referring to Solnit's use of free speech as the premise for his presentation. Ainley's sign also stated that the military taught her Mandarin Chinese. She felt that Solnit and his supporters were "implying that kids are stupid and don't know what they are getting into."

"I was a kid trying to survive working two jobs, almost homeless. I knew what I was doing when I joined the military. Now I can go to school with a 100 percent tuition reimbursement," Ainley said.

Student Tim Snyder who served in Iraq for two years with the Marine Corps supported Solnit's argument for post-military assistance, but said that "there are problems in the service maybe with aftercare and the V.A. but recruitment is not one of the problems."

Army drill sergeant Paul Barboa said that the issue lies on both sides. "The recruiter has a responsibility to explain, but the recruit also has a responsibility to know and understand what they are signing." Barboa also said "maybe they (the recruits) had been lied to about the food, but not the contract."

Solnit reiterated that the debate "is really not whether or not we support the military. The question is how and what does it mean to support our troops." Solnit said that "we need to support our troops by fully informing them before they join, support them while in the military by ensuring that they never go to any war unless it's absolutely necessary and justified, and support the troops after they serve so they have adequate healthcare and not 1 out of 3 homeless vets."

Observing the dispute, Assistant Professor of Political Science Peter Bowman said "In a campus that has a mostly politically apathetic student body, for these students to show such passion and conviction on both sides, makes me proud to be apart of this campus and proud to be an American."

Original Artilce here