Berkeley of local lore is a haven for ideas that are unwelcome anywhere else. Whatever your beliefs, the story goes, you can pitch them safely here in a place whose name still evokes images of the Free Speech Movement. This city is the place to make an argument­-any argument.

Unless, apparently, you work for the armed forces.

In a ridiculous display of hypocrisy, local activists have moved to place an initiative on the November ballot that would prevent the establishment of military recruitment offices within the city without a special permit.

The Berkeley City Council-not one to be left out of demonizing the military-will for its part consider ordering the city manager to inform recruiters that they are "uninvited intruders." And, lest the activists have trouble finding parking, Councilmembers Linda Maio and Max Anderson have proposed reserving them a spot on busy Shattuck Avenue, free of charge.

Small gestures, the initiative's backers argue, in the effort to protect youth from the influence of recruiters. As cities regulate businesses that sell adult material, so too should Berkeley regulate recruiters.

Leaving aside the base offensiveness of comparing the men and women of the armed services to pornographers, both the initiative's supporters and the council are suffering from an embarrassing case of misdirected anger. Their dispute, whether they realize it or not, is with the Bush administration's military policies-not with offices making a pitch for armed service.

Families strive to protect their children from all manner of perceived threats, from fast food to video games to churches that preach the "wrong" religion. Ultimately, the best protection any community can offer its youth is an education that allows them to make their own sound choices, regardless of the temptations they confront and even when their government is occupied with matters more pressing than shielding their eyes.

So let the activists educate-let them open their own recruitment center, staff it daily, put it next door to the Marines. But the same laws that allow protesters to rally outside the recruiters' door allow that door to remain open. Attempting to simply run recruiters out of town is cowardice and a disgrace to the Berkeley legacy of open debate.