Mercenaries?

Mercenary: one that serves merely for wages; especially : a soldier hired into foreign service.

This Boston Globe article raises some truly fascinating questions:

WASHINGTON -- The armed forces, already struggling to meet recruiting goals, are considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks -- including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to US citizenship if they volunteer -- according to Pentagon officials.

[...]

"No doubt many would be willing to serve for some set period, in return for one of the world's most precious commodities -- US citizenship. Some might deride those who sign up as mercenaries, but these troops would have significantly different motives than the usual soldier of fortune."

Read the rest.

I have little issue with the idea, save the rather disgusting corollary that we can't expect current American citizens to show up in the numbers needed.

Ya know, the idea really supports Kerry's notion that only the young and dumb would choose to serve in the military. We have to seek the 'young and dumber' from other countries to fill our ranks!

Much more could be said, but I'll wait until I calm down a bit.

...

I've calmed down enough to avoid foul language and general invective.

What does it say about a country when it can't find recruits from within? Looking outside for fresh ideas and/or particular expertise makes sense. Looking outside for warriors to protect us is a whole other 'can 'o worms'.

There is a spiral forming... maybe even a whirlpool not unlike the swirl of the flushed toilet? Americans eschew firearms and other forms of self defense in favor of dependence on law enforcement. Many Americans don't grasp where their Chicken McNuggets actually come from. It wasn't long ago that a survey of big city kids demonstrated a lack of understanding of where milk came from.

We can't field a military without foreign parts and supplies, now we can't field a military without foreign recruits!

There's a cold slap in the face coming, 9/11 wasn't enough... what will it take? The very question is enough to send me more fully to survival mode or raise my pessimism to the level of paranoia.

"Think of it as evolution in action!" The quote is stolen from "Oath of Fealty", a 1982 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Just giving credit.

But it fits well as part of the forming spiral I mentioned. A citizen doesn't know where their food comes from, doesn't know where their freedoms come from, and apparently doesn't care about those and more, do they deserve to survive?

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...

That doesn't seem to apply to 'the, fat, dumb, and happy, yearning to do nothing'.