UCSC protesters push military recruiters off campusSo, here we have a very zealous group of students who believe strongly in a cause, which is apparently to keep the U.S. Military from getting new recruits. I would guess that these same young people believe that military recruiters lie and cheat and make false promises in order to trick under-privileged young people from joining the military.
Military recruiters packed up their displays and left a UC Santa Cruz job fair Tuesday after several protesters attempted to force themselves inside the fair while others blocked the entrance over the course of a tense hour-long standoff.
Citing safety concerns, the four recruiters from the Army and National Guard reversed an earlier decision to remain at the fair in a room separated from other job recruiters and protected by more than a dozen campus police.
Students Against War, or SAW, drew national attention following a similar protest against military recruiters last April when MSNBC reported that the Department of Defense surveillance program listed the group as a threat.
Under pressure from campus officials, the Pentagon says it has since removed SAW from the list.
Campus spokesperson Liz Irwin said UCSC complies with a 1995 federal law called the Solomon amendment, which denies federal funding to universities that bar military recruiters from campus. Last month, a challenge to the amendment failed in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Apparently the military recruiters who were just doing their job felt threatened enough to leave, and realized that if they were physically attacked and they defended themselves in ANY way, they would be the bad guy, no matter what. So they just left. I suspect that the report here is accurate, but also intended to inflate the drama/conflict a bit.
But these young college activists have a bad argument--if they reduce the U. S. Military, exactly how does that reduce war? If they REALLY believed in their cause, wouldn't they be out boycotting Al Qaeda recruiting stations?
