<Why the ruckus about United States armed-forces personnel serving part of their enlistments in the Peace Corps?
Created in 1961, the Peace Corps employs American civilians at modest salaries for a variety of self-help tasks designed to improve infrastructures in impoverished countries.
American uniformed personnel traditionally have been used as peacekeepers and ambassadors of good will in countries recovering from armed conflict.
America’s military activities in Afghanistan and Iraq essentially are nation-rebuilding operations of more massive scale.
The only difference between the two approaches is the employment of weapons for protection and enforcement in combat areas.
Critics of the three-year-old service option believe unarmed, non-uniformed military members of the Peace Corps would be red flags for terrorists.
Hey, civilian members of the Peace Corps already are prime targets for international and local crazies. At least military members would have had training in self-defense. (14 AUGUST 2005)
