Editor,
As a member in good standing among the indigenous Chicano community in Albuquerque, as a veteran and as a respected visual artist and poet, I write to you to express my horror at the insidious tactics being used by the National Guard to recruit young people.
Rather, we all should be doing our best to seek peace with our withdrawal from Iraq so young people do not have to go there to lose their lives needlessly. Let us not forget that we have young people in the military in Iraq based on a lie. We cannot continue to deny this fact. The invasion of Iraq was illegal. The occupation of Iraq is
illegal.
Working-class youth and people of color are most vulnerable to these recruiting ploys by the military with promises of college and money. Such potential recruits cannot afford college on their own. The rich send their children to college without worrying about military service. It is the undereducated, underemployed, the poor and people of color who end up dying in wars. It is time that we, the people, regain the reins of our democracy.
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Jose Garza
Daily Lobo reader
