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No Child Left Unrecruited: Rep. Jim McDermott Seeks to Protect
Students From Military Recruiters
Campus Resistance: Students Stage Counter-Recruitment Protests
Across the Country
Over 725 Protests Planned to Mark Second Anniversary of Iraq
Invasion
No Child Left Unrecruited: Rep. Jim McDermott Seeks
to Protect Students From Military Recruiters
We speak with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) who is backing a
bill that would make it easier for parents to block military
recruiters from gaining access to their high school-aged children.
The bill seeks to amend a provision of the No Child Left Behind
Act that requires school districts to provide the Pentagon
the names, addresses and phone numbers of every student in
the school.
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of the launch of the
Iraq invasion. Two years ago, on March 19, 2003, the United
States began dropping bombs on Iraq, while thousands of US
and British forces began pouring across the country's borders.
Since then, as many as 100,000 Iraqis have died and an unknown
number have been wounded. Over 1,500 American soldiers have
been killed and some 20,000 medically evacuated.
Two years after the launch of the invasion, the occupation
continues. Some 150,000 US troops still occupy Iraq with no
clear withdrawal date in sight. Meanwhile, the so-called Coalition
of the Willing continues to shrink. This week, Italy announced
it will begin withdrawing its troops leaving only three nations
besides the U.S. with have more than 1,000 soldiers in Iraq.
And for the first time in a decade - the Army and Marines
have missed their recruiting targets for two consecutive months.
Part of the reason for the drop is that African American recruits
have fallen 41 percent since the year 2000.
Today, we spend the hour looking at military recruiting.
Later in the program, we will speak with a former marine and
recruiter who is now speaking out against the military as
well as two people arrested during a protest against military
recruiters on university campus. But first, we turn to Democratic
Congressmember Jim McDermott of Washington. Along with California
Congressman Mike Honda, he has put forward a bill that would
make it easier for parents to block military recruiters from
gaining access to their high school-aged children. The bill
seeks to amend a provision of the No Child Left Behind Act
that requires school districts to provide the Pentagon the
names, addresses and phone numbers of every student in the
school. Yesterday in Washington, Congressman Jim McDermott
held a press conference on the steps of the Capitol to announce
a petition drive for the bill. He joins us on the line from
Washington.
- Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Democratic Congressman representing
the Seattle area. He was first elected in 1989. He is a
psychiatrist by training.
Campus Resistance: Students Stage Counter-Recruitment
Protests Across the Country
Students around the country have launched a national week
of campus resistance to mark the second anniversary of the
Iraq invasion and high profile counter-recruitment protests
are being staged at university campuses around the country.
We speak with a former marine and recruiter's assistant who
is now speaking out against the military and two people arrested
during a protest against military recruiters on university
campus.
Students around the country have launched a national week
of campus resistance to mark the second anniversary of the
Iraq invasion.
In New York Wednesday the Hunter Campus Anti-war Network
staged a protest at a career fair featuring military recruiters.
At the University of Wisconsin in Madison, students protested
against the ROTC's presence on campus.
Last week high profile counter-recruitment protests were
staged at City College in New York and San Francisco State
University.
Today we are joined by three guests in our New York studio.
Chris Dugan is a graduate student at Hunter College. He served
in the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999 and has worked as a
recruiter assistant. He is now a member of the Campus Antiwar
Network and has protested against recruiting on campus. Hadas
Thier is a student at City College New York. She was arrested
last week during a protest against military recruiters on
campus. She was charged with assault and has been suspended
from the University and banned form setting foot on campus.
And Carol Lang, a City College staff member who was picked
up in her office and arrested in connection with the protest
and also charged with assault.
Over 725 Protests Planned to Mark Second Anniversary
of Iraq Invasion
More than 725 anti-war protests and events are scheduled
across the country on March 19th to mark the second anniversary
of the invasion Iraq. We hear from organizers around the country
who describe what is happening in their communities.
Saturday, March 19th, marks the second anniversary of the
Iraq invasion.
More than 725 anti-war protests and events are scheduled
across the country to mark the anniversary. United For Peace
and Justice reports this is more than double the number of
actions that took place a year ago to mark the first anniversary
of the war.
One of the largest rallies is expected to take place in Fayetteville,
North Carolina outside the military base Fort Bragg. Main
sponsors of that protest include Veterans For Peace, Iraq
Veterans Against the War, and Military Families Speak Out.
Yesterday we spoke with organizers around the country to get
a sense of what is happening in their communities.
- Voices of Dissent, protests organizers around the U.S.
describe what is happening in their communities on March
19, 2005.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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