Tony Blair’s “war of choice” is taking a heavy toll on the British Army.

Last week’s article in the New Statesman talks about tackling this problem but in a unique way.

The rising military death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan are factors enough to produce a “retention crisis” in the British Army. As a result the army is on a desperate recruitment drive.

The snag is that this time, teenagers and school children, are the targets. Under performing school children aged 14-16 attend a ‘one-day Army Personal Development Course’ involving rifle drills, negotiating an obstacle course, complete a one-mile run, at the end of which they receive a presentation certificate.

The British Military system is bribing their prospective 14-16 year olds through the Camouflage youth information scheme, introduced in 2000. This scheme was successful in recruiting 271,000 youngsters. These youngsters sign up for the Camouflage scheme when the recruiting officers pay a visit to their schools (in less affluent areas).

 Candidates joining the force can expect incentives of £250 as pocket money, while the government on the other hand is working towards paying £40 to students to stay at school until they are18 years of age.

Granted, the army certainly plays a stabilising role, supporting these youngsters many of who comes from broken homes. But it also raises the question- Must the British military system take desperate measures to meet their recruitment target?

Must Tony Blair’s government sacrifice more innocent lives at battlefields all in the name of war for a cause?