He Joins the Military, Then Refuses to Deploy

David Ridenour writes this about Army sergeant Matthis Chiroux, a six-day Afghanistan veteran and current activist with Iraq Veterans Against the War who for political reasons has refused an order to be recalled to active duty, instead calling a press conference to denounce the war in Iraq:

From the AFP news service:

Matthis Chiroux is the kind of young American US military recruiters love. ‘I was from a poor, white family from the south, and I did badly in school,’ the now 24-year-old told AFP. ‘I was filet mignon for recruiters. They started phoning me when I was in 10th grade,’ or around 16 years old, he added.

Although educational standards have declined somewhat in recent years due to the increasing demands of the Iraq conflict, the U.S. Army generally tries to make sure 90 percent or more of its recruits possess at least a high school diploma. As late as 2003 — that’s the year the Iraq war began and three years after Mr. Chiroux claims to have been relentlessly pursued by recruiters — 94 percent of new Army recruits had high school diplomas or more advanced degrees. You don’t achieve these numbers by focusing your attention on poor students — as Chiroux admits to have been.

Well, who are we to argue with him. He says the Iraq war is illegal and who would know better than a guy who “did badly” in high school. I wonder if he could help us with our grammar, too?

I believe him when he says he was “filet mignon” to recruiters, however.

Filet mignon means “dainty filet” in French.

Sure looks like one dainty filet to me.

David Ridenour is vice president of the National Center for Public Policy Research. To contact David directly, write him at [email protected].


The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.