Parents and enlistments

I read an article today in the Washington Post about a mother who is upset her daughter was killed in Iraq. The daughter joined the Army after high school because she wasn't ready for college and wanted to travel. So, she enlisted in the Army.
She was killed in August.
Her mother was upset claiming her daughter was scared, sick and against the war.
"I am very upset that this has happened," Samuels's distraught mother, Anika Lawal of Waldorf, said yesterday. "I want to know why I'm planning a funeral while George Bush is planning a wedding." (from W. Post story.)
Hmmm. So again, this is President Bush's fault. I have made this point before about Cindy Sheehan, so let me say it again.
THE ARMY IS A FULLY VOLUNTARY FORCE! NO ONE MADE THIS GIRL ENLIST. SHE SIGNED UP. SHE JOINED BY HER OWN FREE WILL. AND IF MOM DIDN'T APPROVE, SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE MORE TO KEEP HER FROM ENLISTING.
After someone enlists, they go through a 8-9 week basic training. If it turns out the person just can't hack it as a soldier, they are discharged. If they truly think they made a mistake, were lied to by recruiters, or just can't handle it, they can go a to a chaplain, a First Sergeant, or other top leader and talk to them about it. Generally, the leader will of course try to talk them into staying. They will give different options. And they will remind the young soldier that they chose their path and the Army wants them to live up to their promise.
But, regardless, lets look at what happens BEFORE the soldier enlists. I have yet to hear Cindy Sheehan say anything about how she tried to talk her son out of enlisting. If she did, what did she say? Did she threaten him? Did she do everything she could to change his mind if she was SooOOooo against the military? On the show Intervention there is a line about parents not "loving their kids to death." So how far did Ms. Sheehan take it? I would venture not very far if the rest of her family (who has basically disowned her for damaging the memory of her son) supported her son and are at least proud of his sacrifice. (BTW, it is ok to be sad and proud of a soldier dying in the line of duty.)
And what about Ms. Lawal? Where was she when her daughter enlisted? Her daughter was a "girly girl" who loved to wear pink and painter her car to match a Barbie car she had when she was small(!) Not exactly the first image you have when you think of a girl enlisting as a soldier.
So what made her do it? Why enlist? Maybe because she wanted to serve her country? She wanted to travel? She didn't understand the implications of enlisting? Well, regardless, she chose to enlist no one forced her.

To recap, if you didn't do everything as a parent to keep your child from enlisting and something happens to them in combat or other related incident, it is not the fault of the President. It is not the fault of the Generals. It was a choice made by your child and it was up to them to sign on the dotted line. No one else has that choice.