>>Now ... here's a blast from the past ... in the U.S., there used to be a
policy for judges to offer a choice to people in the court system the option of
conviction or the military, somewhat similar to what the Britlanders are
supposedly doing. Solves the prison population problem ... especially when
they get little vacations in the West African coastal nations ... IF the
Britlanders are NOT afraid of casualties, then that contributes to the
solution: maiming or killing the would be crooks eliminates their ilk from the
system (almost) completely, eh,. what, egad? Ah, cannon fodder ... any scrap
of metal, rock, wire, peach pits, whathaveyou ... A<>E<>R <<<
>From The Free Republic
}}>>Begin
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British Army full of convicts, says German defence minister
Foreign Affairs Opinion (Published)
Source: Electric Telegraph
Published: 05/21/00 Author: Tony Paterson and Ian Cobain
Posted on 05/21/2000 14:56:12 PDT by Miss Antiwar
THE German defence minister has triggered a diplomatic row by alleging that the
British Army is full of convicts recruited from the nation's jails.
Rudolf Scharping said that it was official British Army policy to offer
criminals the chance to sign up as an alternative to prison. A Ministry of
Defence spokesman said yesterday: "The man is talking absolute rubbish."
Nevertheless, the claims have been widely reported in Germany, leaving many
with the impression that large numbers of British servicemen and women are
crooks.
Mr Scharping was speaking to the newspaper S�ddeutsche Zeitung in advance of
Tuesday's publication of plans for restructuring Germany's armed forces. He
said: "Everyone will ask themselves whether we should oblige ourselves to
repeat the bad experiences of other countries with professional armies. Should
we do the same as Britain and give criminal offenders the option to serve in
the army rather than go to prison?"
Brigadier Brian Isbell, the British defence attach� to Germany, wrote to the
newspaper pointing out that Mr Scharping was mistaken. He said: "The British
Army does not recruit inmates from the prisons to serve as soldiers." It was
merely standard prison-service policy to inform ex-prisoners of military career
opportunities after their release.
Brig Isbell said he had not received any apology from the German defence
minister. He said: "Whatever the future of the German armed forces, it is
obviously quite unproductive to slag off Germany's Nato partners in this
fashion."
Last year, The Telegraph revealed that the Army had started allowing convicts
to apply as recruits while in jail. But it will accept only those who have been
sentenced to two years or less, and it bars anyone convicted of racial, sexual
or drugs offences. Crucially, offenders can join up only after serving their
sentences.
Mr Scharping also took a sideswipe at the Spanish army, suggesting that it was
full of idiots because senior officers had reduced the intelligence quotient to
attract recruits. Mr Scharping, who was appointed defence minister in
Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der's Social Democrat-led government 18 months ago, was
seeking to defend the principle of conscription in Germany's armed forces
against plans to switch to a more British-style professional army.
Of the 255,000 young Germans called up annually, 125,000 opt to do social
rather than military service. As a result many of those called up spend 10
months working in hospitals or old peoples' homes. Social and military experts
concede that ending conscription could lead to a breakdown in Germany's social
services.
End<<{{
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