Look at the Monkey; Look at the Silly Monkey

Why does military recruitment material these days look so much more like Tampon advertisements than calls to arms? Stemming the flow of the blood of patriots into the sand...hard work these days in Iraq, that model democracy that so recently proved to the world just how effective W and Co.'s policy adventures in the Middle East have been through its ability to have elections and prosecute, and ultimately hang, its former dictator, Sadam Hussein.

Yes, yes...very effective, indeed. Who even pays attention to the Iraqi sectarian violence body-count anymore? US war deaths have been described as being "around 3000" for a while now, but Iraqi deaths...why do I feel like it has to average around 50-70 or so a week? I admt, I don't really pay a lot of attention to the specifics of the Shia/Sunni grudge-slayings but I know in the countdown to Ashura, there was a lot of weird, apocalyptic-violence and what-not, including a guy who claimed to be the Mehdi (Islamic Messianic figure) getting gunned down by Sunni/Al-Queda type guys. But, I havent heard any reports of Americans getting whacked out lately.

Spring is already here in New Orleans. Last week there were a couple of days that I would describe as cold, but the week before that, there was one day that I think may have crept into the 80's. Flowers are starting to bloom, and I expect to have to run out and get a couple of summer shorts soon. Mardi Gras parades start this week, and tis the season for debutante balls and Senior Proms and for military recruiters to launch their predatory program for the duping of unsuspecting pre-college freshmen.

The military recruitment literature is covered with images of kids jumping high into the air; the sky, brushed beautifully with cirrus clouds, features prominently on the front cover of the little pamphlet. Compared to the Tom Clancy, sleek and slick shit they were passing out to kids at the end of the Cold War when I was a senior in high school, this recruitment material looks like they are trying to sell kids on an image of suburban recreation rather than a gritty truth of waking up every morning afraid of suicide bombing jihadis taking a massive shit in your morning cereal.

Showing the face of a guy on patrol in the Sunni Triangle with that look in his eye that lets you know that he is so fucking scared, that anything that moves suddenly, man, woman or child, is going to get all shot up...I guess that's not what they want the prospective recruit to focus on though. Look at the monkey, they say.

Look at the silly monkey.