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One of the major missions of the U.S. military is to ensure its soldiers have the skills needed to not only fight effectively but also to train them to survive the myriad of conditions they might face in armed combat. As part of that mission, the military provides training to soldiers on how to survive if they are trapped behind enemy lines.
Since eating is a big part of surviving and a stranded soldier cannot just walk into an Iraqi restaurant and order takeout, the military teaches soldiers how to kill and cook animals.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is having a fit because the Air Force buys hundreds of rabbits and uses them to show soldiers how to bludgeon the animal with a club and then properly prepare them. Soldiers are also taught how to prepare snakes, turtles and chickens.
According to PETA, "It is pointless for a soldier to practice killing small domestic mammals and birds, considering that in a true survival experience, few would have trouble killing such an animal if survival depended on it." Well at least PETA's not suggesting that soldiers should carry Linda McCartney t-shirts saying "Go Veggie" on them if in a survival situation, but simply assuming that all soldiers would know how to kill animals for food is the sort of assumption that gets people killed when they are finally faced with emergency situations.
In other news, PETA announced in a press release that MediaCom Inc. had cancelled the billboard space that PETA purchased in Regina and Calgary, Canada to run its ad linking meat eating to impotence. The ad features a woman in a bikini next to the message, "I threw a party but the cattlemen couldn't come." According to PETA, MediaCom informed the animal rights group that it received so many calls from "angry residents and women's groups" that it was yanking the ads. PETA said its lawyers are studying whether or not PETA might have a legal remedy against MediaCom for breach of contract.