“The Explorers Program” is an affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America, a one time fun, educational program for childern. But learning how to tie knots and earn first aid badges are a thing of the past, as new millitant training camps are now all the rage. The Explorers Program are training thousands of their young members, some as young as 13 years old, in counter terrorism tactics and illegal immigrant border control.
So what is the difference between African child soldiers, and the new breed coming out of America? The Taliban train young boys in camps, as do numerous other groups of millitant fanatics. The only difference is that one is condemned, and one is condoned. If the US do it, then hey, whats the problem? It’s for freedom and democrisy right?! But perish the thought of anyone else being caught in the act! You have to love the blatent hypocrisy from our buddies in the US-of-A:
New York Times: “This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy here in Imperial County, whose life clock, he says, is set around the Explorers events he helps run. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.”
The training, which leaders say is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include facing down terrorists and taking out “active shooters,” like those who bring gunfire and death to college campuses. In a simulation here of a raid on a marijuana field, several Explorers were instructed on how to quiet an obstreperous lookout.
“Put him on his face and put a knee in his back,” a Border Patrol agent explained. “I guarantee that he’ll shut up.”
One participant, Felix Arce, 16, said he liked “the discipline of the program,” which was something he said his life was lacking. “I want to be a lawyer, and this teaches you about how crimes are committed,” he said.
Cathy Noriego, also 16, said she was attracted by the guns. The group uses compressed-air guns — known as airsoft guns, which fire tiny plastic pellets — in the training exercises, and sometimes they shoot real guns on a closed range.
“I like shooting them,” Cathy said. “I like the sound they make. It gets me excited.”
In a competition in Arizona that he did not oversee, Deputy Lowenthal said, one role-player wore traditional Arab dress. “If we’re looking at 9/11 and what a Middle Eastern terrorist would be like,” he said, “then maybe your role-player would look like that. I don’t know, would you call that politically incorrect?”
