Should the military have higher standards?

Here's the census 2000 for the town of Fort Ashby, WV:

http://censtats.census.gov/data/WV/1605428444.pdf

The town is 99 percent white. More than a third of the place make less than $25,000. 18% of the town does not even have a HS diploma.

It's obvious that this place is poor and extremely ignorant. In the town there is just ONE person that might be considered "Arab looking", and that too he/she is Indian.

Maybe our standards in the military are way too low. So many in the military are so ignorant of the places they are sent. High schools don't teach anything about different cultures or anything about thinking critically. People end up accepting propaganda. Iraq = responsible for 9/11. There's nothing more to it. Notice how many are claiming that the recent mistreatment is in response to the burning of the mercanaries.

The people sent over there to guard prisons weren't trained for this kind of work. Most were trained in different areas.

In the military, this ignorance prevails. Most aren't given enough instructions regarding their culture and customs.

Of course, if we had higher standards, we couldn't maintain such a large troop strength, meaning not as much cannon fodder for these imperalistic wars.

This is in NO WAY excusing the actions of England, but I think we have institutional problems within society and the military that need to be fixed.

such as I'm sure this town appears to be, I have to answer your question with a no. My son joined the Army shortly after his 18th birthday, and he learned a career in auto mechanics, something which he enjoys and is good at. Had he seen combat and been assigned to guard a prison, however, I may think somewhat differently. But the Army at one time was a good place to learn a trade, as well as discipline. I do belive you brought up a good point when you said that more multi cultural teachings should be out there. It is important to understand that there other people out there in the world who don't share the same belief system as we do and it should be taught in schools, as well as home.

...as its by nature a sort of :"mulitculti" force, not just folks from rural poverty, it has the ensure there is some tolerance & acceptance of people that are 'different", as a way to develope comeraderie and espirt de corps among its troops, as a way to ensure they work togther as a team, so they do promote meritocracy as a value,

and by and large my experience in the military was that they succeed at this very well. If there was ever a lesson I thought the military could teach the society as a whole it was that you really can take men and women of all races, all economic backgrounds (although admittedly the rich were never well represented!), from all parts of the country and get them to get along and work towards common goals. And it doesn't just happen, you do it by educating them.

Then you get a group of dumb asses and place them in a situation where they're receiving inadequate leadership (or adult supervision in a case like these fools), in a war we should never have been fighting in the first place...

And they end up making our men and women in uniform collectively look like fascists! As a veteran I resent these torturers and abusers in ways that I am so mad about I can even articulate them!

theyre supposed to kill people, and they do that very well. It's up to Bush and company to invade the right country. Are you saying that educated soldiers wouldn't want to have some fun at the expense of enemy prisoners? I'm not sure I buy that.