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	International Communist Workers Party
ICWP@Anonymousspeech.com

USA—“They’ll get their money, but I want those years back,” said a former National Guard soldier when asked to pay back bonus money given to her improperly, according to the Guard.
When the bosses need soldiers to go fight their wars and these soldiers have not been won to go die for the bosses’ profits, the bosses must resort to tricks, lies, bribery, and cheating to entice them to go sacrifice their lives in the name of imperialist hegemony.
Most of the time soldiers are offered incentives in the form of monetary compensation either to join the armed forces or to reenlist to stay in longer. Such was the case during the Iraq-Afghanistan wars that started in 2001 and dragged on for more than 10 years.          
At the height of the conflict and unable to fulfill demand for bodies needed to go fight these two wars, due to the dangerous and unpopular situations, some National Guard soldiers all over the country were offered large sums of monetary incentives to re-enlist, some for up to six more years.           
Despite the great danger that this re-enlistment implied, many soldiers jumped in and took the money that could be used to feed their families, pay for college tuition or pay off some debt.  They didn’t know that later on they would have to pay the money back.  They would be betrayed by the very same government that they had risked their lives for.        
Military branches like the National Guard, that at one point accounted for almost half the fighting force during these wars, were forced to offer bonuses for up to 20 thousand dollars up front for re-enlistment to specific service members to fulfill their quotas.    
Around 10,000 National Guard soldiers mainly in California that did not meet criteria were given these bonuses by “error.”  Some soldiers were just given improper bonuses because they relied on people they thought knew what they were doing.  They were told they qualified for these bonuses. Now these soldiers are getting letters to repay back the money with interest.   
Recently, news about the pay backs came to light.  It ignited outrage and anger of soldiers from all branches of the military and the public, forcing Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to come out and issue an order to suspend the collections process. But these suspensions are only a temporary step to review the process more carefully.  At the end of the day most of these soldiers will be collected upon.        
These collections have been going on for a few years now and will continue in the future. Soldiers know that this is a war against the government they cannot win.  They have paid or are struggling trying to pay back the money, sometimes taking personal loans or refinancing their mortgages just to get off the harassment of collection agencies.
As always capitalism tries to put the blame on someone else, like army Sgt. Toni Jaffe, the California Guard’s incentive manager.  Sgt. Jaffe was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to filing false claims. Whether willingly or unwillingly Sgt. Jaffe did what capitalism forces workers to do with their vicious selfish competition and its ever-increasing demand of increased production to maximize profits. 
It’s like the Wells Fargo bank workers that were creating phony accounts to boost their sales figures to make more money. Cheating, competition and selfishness are some of the teachings of the capitalist system.
Under capitalism the only thing that matters is money.  Even when these soldiers could have made the ultimate sacrifice in battle, it was not enough for the government for them to be allowed to keep the pocket change, compared to the billions of dollars wasted in the wars they fought.                                
Soldiers and workers need a communist society, where they can learn unity, cooperation, sharing and a dignifying way of life that will free them from the horrors of capitalism. Such a society must be built by soldiers, worker and students by joining the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP).
Read, write and distribute our newspaper Red Flag, the greatest weapon the working class can use to end capitalist society.

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