August 24, 2005: Headlines: Speaking Out: Military: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Berkshire Eagle: Berkshire Eagle: The war corps
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August 24, 2005: Headlines: Speaking Out: Military: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Berkshire Eagle: Berkshire Eagle: The war corps
Berkshire Eagle: The war corps
The problem is not that soldiers can't make good Peace Corps volunteers. On the contrary, thousands of former military men and women have done fine work in the Peace Corps. But their military and corps tours were separate. One of the great strengths of the Peace Corps since its founding by JFK in 1961 has been its independence from other branches of the government and its ability to function outside short-term foreign-policy goals. The Peace Corps has served America well by representing the country's best values abroad - and by promoting health, education and freedom from want - without taking stands on foreign-policy positions.
Berkshire Eagle: The war corps
The war corps
Editorial
Berkshire Eagle
A demonstration against the Peace Corps in Bangladesh last month illustrates perfectly why a dumb U.S. plan to combine military and Peace Corps service should be abandoned. Students at Dhaka University protested what a leader called U.S. "imperialism" and said "if America needs to brighten its so-called good face before the world, it should change its foreign policy." Sixty-eight Peace Corps volunteers are currently working in Bangladesh as English teachers and in women's health programs, services poverty-stricken Bangladesh surely can use.
The protesters did not represent the government - on politically aware campuses it's easy to organize protests against one thing or another - and the Bangladesh volunteers plan to stay. But protests of this type, and worse, could become common if the U.S. goes ahead with a program initiated three years ago allowing U.S. military enlistees to complete their post-active-duty military obligations in the Peace Corps or Americorps, the domestic national volunteer organization. The Bush administration thought the plan would add a recruitment incentive, and congressional backers such as Senator John McCain of Arizona and Indiana Democrat Evan Bayh are proponents of national service.
Several thousand 2002 military enlistees will soon be eligible for Peace Corps service under the plan, and it could spell trouble for the 44-year-old organization. The problem is not that soldiers can't make good Peace Corps volunteers. On the contrary, thousands of former military men and women have done fine work in the Peace Corps. But their military and corps tours were separate. One of the great strengths of the Peace Corps since its founding by JFK in 1961 has been its independence from other branches of the government and its ability to function outside short-term foreign-policy goals. The Peace Corps has served America well by representing the country's best values abroad - and by promoting health, education and freedom from want - without taking stands on foreign-policy positions.
This independence is written into the Peace Corps Act. Amending language was slipped into a defense appropriations bill three years ago without anyone pointing out the dangers. Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez has said he didn't even know about the program until it was law, and he was reminded of it recently when the Pentagon began promoting the program in one of its increasingly desperate recruiting drives.
Senators McCain and Bayh said they devised the legislation "to provide Americans with more opportunities to serve their country." That's well-meant, but now the un-thought-through ramifications are about to become obvious. The same senators should listen to all the reasons that they have made a mistake - perceptions in the Third World; the likelihood that at least some soldiers will be ill-suited for Peace Corps service; the wisdom of keeping the Peace Corps separate from ever-shifting U.S. foreign policy - and halt this misbegotten initiative.
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Story Source: Berkshire Eagle
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Speaking Out; Military; Safety and Security of Volunteers
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